Naruto: The Second Sage
by zapisthename
Summary: Due to a civilian mob attacking him, and learning some secrets about himself, Naruto opens the seal, thus being visited by his father, who tells him that he has a lot of things to do and a big name to live up to. The Sage Of Six Paths. Separate, and detailed summary inside.Rinnegan!Naruto, Godlike!Naruto, NO HAREM, M for language and violence.
1. Prologue: It All Begins

**Author's Note:**

**So it was time I revisited this and make some changes, more will come in the future so I guess I need to leave some sort of a change log kinda thing, no time as the present I think, here's the CHANGELOG **

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**CHANGELOG(v1.1):**

**Changed Pairing Status**

**Explained The 2nd Point in Author's note.**

**Removed shameless plug for the other story.**

**In explanation of Rinnegan, replaced bloodstream with Chakra stream.**

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**Edit Note: People have given me grief about my comma splicing and the lack of contractions, which will take some time to fix, the story is fine from a spelling point (at least that's what the reviewers tell me, so that's not a problem) Expect more changes in v1.2, including Comma Splice and contraction fixes.**

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**Author's Note:**

**This concept was bugging me for a while, and I know a lot of these kind of fics have been done, but I decided that I would do one anyway. Here are somethings you ought to know.**

**1. This is a god like Naruto fic, however there is no Harem, Its a Naruto-Yugito fic, Yugito will be of Naruto's age in this so people can stop complaining, also the relationship will be a slow build. Naruto will be overpowered in this fic, but I will make sure that he is challenged by the bad guys although this doesn't mean the bad guys will be overpowered, Naruto will have some problems, he has the ability, but he'll suffer in terms of experience, which can be fixed easily enough, so don't expect every battle to be of the curb stomp variety.**

**2. Some jutsu names will be in English, some will be in Japanese. Please don't give me grief about this in your reviews, please, really, I can't handle it.**

**3. Rinnegan will be different, it will as you will find out in the chapter you read, be explained in more detail in the Author's Note below.**

**Disclaimer: DON'T OWN NARUTO**

**Full Summary: Naruto has a lot to live up to, not only does he have his father, The Yellow Flash of Konoha and his mother The Red Hot Habanero, he has another legend to live up to and a destiny to fulfill, to bring peace to the world and follow the steps of The Sage Of Six Paths himself. Rinnegan!Naruto, Godlike!Naruto, NO HAREM, M for language and violence.**

For as long as Naruto Uzumaki could remember, his life had been a complete nightmare. He had been hated and vilified by the villagers in the place where he lived, and that was The Village Hidden In The Leaves. Naruto had always wondered why it was that he could not ever find any acknowledgement in his hometown, which was also the reason for him playing the various pranks that he played.

The villagers always called him a demon, he always assumed that this was because of the numerous pranks he had played in the past. he had played pranks on the Uchiha clan, and the Hyuga clan and numerous other clans in Konoha had been struck by the malestorm that he was. Naruto was proud of his pranking, he was certainly able to outrun many of the villagers and the ninja's, and the situation was so bad that they had to send experienced ANBU to catch him, and yet he would manage escaping most of the time.

However this was not one of the times, but this was also not one of the times which Naruto had played a prank. This was just another day for Naruto, however the reason why he was in the predicament he was in was lost to him, he could not for the life of him explain why there was a mob of at least 20 Konoha civilians who were now surrounding him, with murderous looks in their eyes, the same way they had looked at him for as long as Naruto could remember. This was certainly not good news for him, he would sure be sore in the morning tomorrow.

That was another thing that Naruto could never explain, no matter what happened, he never got sick or why any wound that was ever inflicted on him by the villagers would ever stay, they would heal almost instantly, but today it looked like the wounds were going to stay, for a long long time.

Naruto gulped, this was not good.

He almost considered apologizing to the civilians but he could not speak, he couldn't even move, and the expression on his face was one of sheer terror. It looked like Naruto would die young, at the age of 6.

"Look at the demon" one of the civilians, Naruto couldn't tell who, sneered. There were nods of agreement in the group upon hearing this, some of them were smiling.

"Yeah, he thinks with that expression on his face he can actually manage to fool us and extract some sympathy from us, but the demon is wrong" the civilian sneered, while Naruto took a step back, however the narrow alleyway in which they had cornered him was not too receptive to this, he realized that he had just stepped into a wall, there was no where he could go now.

"This demon deserves to die" said another person, and yet to Naruto it seemed as though everyone was saying it, the voices were echoing and Naruto felt something inexplicable setting in, his heart tensed and his muscles seized up. He couldn't even breathe anymore, it was almost as if time had stopped. Naruto began feeling something burning in his eyes, while one or two civilians seemed to notice the change in him. They stepped back but shrugged it off as they began closing in again. Naruto shut his eyes as they seemed to burn even more now.

-x-

**Naruto's Mindscape**

At first all Naruto could smell was the sewers, and nothing more. It almost smelled like the dank underground of Konoha did, actually it smelled exactly like that.

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud, as he began fumbling in the darkness looking for a source of light that would tell him where he was better than he could right now, and yet he couldn't find any.

**"Come closer" **a voice seemed to call him, and Naruto had no other choice but to follow it. It was like he could not refuse the voice, it was filled with intent and sounded really menacing, almost as though not following it would kill him.

He moved in the direction of the seal before coming across a giant cage with nine bars and a center which was circular with the kanji for 'Seal' engraved on it.

"What the-?" he said to no one in particular.

"**The eyes" **the voice said, clearly coming from beyond that cage. **"Those eyes, I don't recall you having those eyes" **the voice said, the menacing tone gone, replaced completely with a curious one, it was as though the voice was interested in him, and Naruto did not like it one bit.

And then it was as though the voice had all his doubts answered. **"Of course, Kushina was an Uzumaki, that explains it"** it seemed to say, and this caused Naruto to look at him with interest now, it was as though someone had hit him with the stomach, Kushina was an Uzumaki? That meant there had to be another family member existing somewhere.

"Who are you?" he asked looking in the direction of the voice and it had taken more courage than one could think was possible for a six year old boy to possess.

The voice behind the bars seemed to laugh as suddenly the whole cage began illuminating, slowly light began creeping in and Naruto could see that the thing had tails, actually nine of them, and he looked like a fox.

"K-Kyuubi" he said stammering, as the voice began laughing in earnest, it was really dreadful, the whole place seemed to reek of evil forces while Naruto began thinking he might just pee himself.

**"As brave as your father eh? Naruto Uzumaki, you also seem as feisty as your mother" **the voice said laughing, the laugh was less evil and seemed more jovial and genuine.

"Th-Those eyes? Wh-What eyes are you talking about?" Naruto asked the Kyuubi no Yoko, straightening and summoning some more of that courage, all the while cursing himself for being so foolish. However the voice did not seem offended.

**"The color of your eyes seems off though" **it mused, while Naruto Uzumaki was trying to feel his eyes, as far as he could tell, the only thing that he found different was he seemed to see more clearly.

"You know my parents?" he asked the fox when he sensed that it had finished laughing, Naruto felt more comfortable by the second as the killing intent had all but disappeared. The fox nodded.

**"Yes, I do know of your parents boy, why, it was your father who put me in this god forsaken place behind bars"** the voice said as Naruto suddenly realized something, it had been the Yondaime Hokage that had defeated the fox that had attacked Konoha all those years ago, so maybe the fox was saying the Yondaime Hokage was his father?

**"Yes"** the fox said reading Naruto's mind apparently. **"Although the bastard Yondaime did not kill me like some of you insolent whelps seem to believe, he merely sealed me into the body of his own son" **the fox said coming closer to Naruto, so much so that they were face to face, or atleast face to Naruto's entire body. **"You"** he finished, causing Naruto to gulp.

"Y-you mean th-that the Yondiame is my father, and I have a demon inside me, is- is that why the villagers-" he trailed off, tearing up with every word he spoke before he began crying. The crying seemed to set off a chain reaction in the whole place, as bits of the roof seemed to be falling off the roof of the cage the fox was trapped in.

"My- My father did not love me" he said, while crying at the same time, he began moving towards the seal, "The villagers hate me" he said, with a bit more venom in his voice, "I'll show them" he said as he ran towards the circular compartment where 'Seal' was engraved.

**"Now Kit, wait one second"** the fox called out to him but Naruto was blinded by rage, and pulled off the seal.

-x-

"Naruto" the voice called out to him, much calmer than the one before, not even a quarter as rough as the fox's voice, "Naruto, come here" the voice called out to him again.

The whole place was covered in bright light, and Naruto was awestruck at what he was seeing, standing in front of him was a tall blonde man, the resemblance was uncanny and eerie, it almost looked like it was a grown up version of himself. The man was wearing a long cloak which had "Yondaime Hokage" written on it. Naruto realized who it was.

"You" he said, causing the Hokage to smile, it was just like Naruto's smiles but Naruto did not know that.

"Yes, its your father-" before he could finish the sentence however he was punched in the stomach by Naruto, which knocked the wind out of him and brought him to his knees.

The man got up and smiled, "I deserved that" he said, causing Naruto to get a funny look on his face, one of extreme puzzlement. It also seemed to calm him down.

"Why?" Naruto asked him. The man smiled.

"It was unfair wasn't it, why I had to seal the damn fox in you, but Naruto, there was no way to beat him, the only way I could have done it was by sealing it in someone, however I couldn't just go and ask for a baby, it had to be someone I trusted, and there was only one person I trusted enough to keep the fox in the seal, and that was you" he said pointing a finger at him.

"Trusted? Why would you trust someone to seal a demon in them?" Naruto asked his father, who just smiled.

"Of course, my son is too young to understand all this, that is why the seal was almost taken off, however I will explain it to you" he said, Naruto nodded.

"You see" he continued, "There are nine tailed beasts in this world, and the Kyuubi is one of them. These beasts are sealed in a person, and this person is called a Jinchuriki" he said. "The power of human sacrifice" he said explaining the meaning of the term to Naruto.

"Jinchuriki's are the power of human sacrifice Naruto, because not only do they take on a lot of danger by sealing a beast within them, they also have to bear with the treatment you received at the hands of the villagers, and I couldn't understand that" he said sadly, shaking his head as he did so.

"What does that mean?" Naruto said, sitting down and crossing his legs. Listening to his father like a child listens to a fairy tale.

"I expected the villagers to treat you like a hero, for you made an ultimate sacrifice by holding the Kyuubi within yourself, but they saw you for what you held inside you, not what you actually are. It is disappointing I know, but that is ignorance isn't it?" he asked Naruto, who nodded. The villagers really did not know any better.

"Naruto, the trust I have in you was the fact that you could control what is inside you,so that one day you may use the power as a Shinobi of Konoha" he said smiling.

Naruto nodded, wasn't that his dream. It had always been that way.

"Naruto, I love you, and so did your mother, we are proud of you and we will always watch you from above, trust me on this. I will fix the seal this time, but this is the last time I do this" he said, causing Naruto to nod.

"Now, I have some time left, I think I should figure out those eyes of yours" he said, and Naruto wondered what was wrong. This was the second person (although calling the Kyuubi a person would be stretching it) had told him his eyes were different. Suddenly a mirror materialized in front of him, he walked up to the mirror and looked at his reflection, his eyes were different. There was a ripple like pattern around the pupil and the iris and sclera were a red color.

"That is the Rinnegan Naruto, and strangely enough I think I know what caused you to have the Rinnegan" his father said as Naruto stared transfixed at the mirror. "Naruto" he said slowly, Naruto turned around. "Do you know the basics of channeling Chakra?" he asked him. Naruto nodded. He smiled.

"Good" his father said as he began rubbing his hair. "Why don't you relax and withdraw all Chakra?" he asked Naruto, who nodded and turned to the mirror while calming down and withdrawing the Chakra from his body. His eyes returned to their normal piercing blue color. His father smiled.

"What do you know, you have my eyes too" he said, causing Naruto to smile.

"Dad, why do I have this Rinnegan thing?" he asked his father, who looked pensive upon being asked that question.

"I think we need the fox to explain that question to us" he said, as the bright light immediately receded and they were back in the familiar dark and smelly sewer again.

**"YONDAIME" **a voice screamed, Killer Intent flaring causing Naruto to feel unsettled again, however his father held his hand, stabilizing him immediately.

**"COME HERE, YOU INSOLENT HUMAN, HOW DARE YOU"**

"SHUT UP" his father screamed, and that earned Naruto's respect. He was petrified of the damn thing, but his father was having a shouting match, and the Kyuubi was actually listening.

"I know you were not in control of yourself, but I had to do what I had to do, so stop shouting at me and listen and explain why he has these eyes"

The fox smiled. **"The sage of six paths possessed that Dojutsu and only a person with Uchiha and Senju chakra can unlock the Rinnegan" **it said.

"That is correct, but where is the Uchiha Chakra from?" he asked the fox.

**"You know, the person who took control of me, after you freed me from it, I was left with some traces of that infernal chakra of the Uchiha's. It was not enough to control me again, but it was there, today it melded with the kit's Uzumaki Chakra, which is a clan that is related to the Senju's and my first ever host itself"** it said. **"No wonder he unlocked the rinnegan, and I can even explain why the Rinnegan is slightly different for him, that is because of my own Chakra"** it finished.

"You mean to say some of that Uchiha Chakra was mixed with your own and leaked into Naruto's chakra stream, mixing with his normal chakra and thus giving him a Rinnegan that is different and is something he can deactivate?"

The fox nodded its giant head.

"That does not make any sense whatsoever" Naruto pipped in, causing not only the Yondaime, but also the Kyuubi itself to laugh.

**"Your son, Minato, he has spunk, I have to give you that"** the fox said laughing at the same time.

Minato nodded. "Naruto, focus some Chakra to your eyes will you, once more, lets see if you can do it again"

Naruto nodded, forcing some chakra to his eyes, however the pain did not come this time, there was no burning sensation in his eyes.

Minato looked at Naruto with a triumphant expression in his eyes. "You can actually activate and deactivate this thing, that is certainly very useful" he said, causing Naruto to feel puzzled.

"Why would that matter dad?" he asked Minato who smiled. "You will have some people after you for this Dojutsu Naruto, so its a good thing that you can hide it at will" he said, causing Naruto to look at him wide eyed.

"Is it really that powerful dad?" he asked his father who nodded. "No one knows what the Rinnegan can do Naruto, it generally is said to bring goodness or chaotic evil, you are going to be an exceptional shinobi someday"

Naruto smiled, it was good to hear that from the man he was idolizing who turned out to be his own father.

"Naruto, I am fading now" Minato said smiling, "Not a lot of time has passed outside, barely a second, so just react on your instincts okay, I think you will be alright. I know I couldn't stay too long, and I know that you would love to know a lot of things, but that is your mother's story to tell" he said, causing Naruto to look at him again.

"Yes, Naruto, did you expect only your father to be able to talk to you, your mother is a lot more feisty than you, and she made sure that she would see you when the time came, but that is some ways away son" he said, Naruto was tearing up again, while even Minato seemed to have teary eyes.

"I love you and I hope you can forgive me for this" he said, causing Naruto to nod. Deep down even Naruto knew he couldn't stay mad for long at his father for what had happened and he understood the reasons for the fox being sealed into him. Minato began flickering.

"Ask the Sandaime to give you Minato's scrolls, he will understand clearly" he said, "No matter what happens, do not blame the villagers Naruto, rise above that hate and focus on making friends and earning respect. Remember, the people who have responsibility thrust upon them are the ones who are strong, just like you, make sure that the village is your responsibility, okay?"

Naruto nodded.

**"Minato" **the fox said, interrupting the conversation that father and son were having as Minato began flickering. **"He has the eyes of our father, and he is of strong heart, so the day he is capable of taking my Chakra, I will offer to meld with him"** he said.**"The great Kyuubi No Kitsune will make sure that he stays alive"** he said, causing Minato to smile.

"You know, you aren't that bad" Minato said, the flicker was getting stronger now.

The fox laughed, **"Its time, leave Minato, I consider you worthy enough of knowing my name. It is Kurama"** he said.

However Minato had disappeared.

Naruto was about to turn off the Rinnegan when the fox spoke to him.

**"Naruto, not much time has passed outside. Those eyes should give you some form of control over gravity, so just focus your Chakra on pushing when the mob comes close, you should be able to fend them off"** it said. Naruto nodded.

**"One more thing, when you need to talk to me, just meditate, this is your mindscape, you can meet anytime. You don't have to come here to talk to me though, we can do that telepathically also"** it continued.

"Telepathic?" Naruto scratched his head. "What is that?"

Kurama shook his head. "**You are a stupid kid, now go**" it said, pushing Naruto outside the mindscape.

-x-

It was almost as though only a breath had been taken in the world outside, the civilians were still closing in, however some seemed to have noticed the color of his eyes had gone from blue to red. They stepped back, however Naruto was just doing what was coming to his mind, however he felt instincts take over as he gave a push of his chakra.

"Shinra Tensei" he whispered.

The affects were immediate, a huge pulse of energy was sent out from Naruto's hands, and the whole mob of people was pushed right back. Naruto cringed as he saw a person hit his head against the wall, the narrow alleyway had become wide as the walls surrounding them had been destroyed.

Some of the civilians were cringing at what had happened, there were moans of pain heard from some sides as Naruto realized that while he might not be as tired as he looked, there was a lot of things that had happened and everything had changed. He sighed as he fainted, deactivating his Dojutsu as he did so.

-x-

Weasel, of the ANBU had seen villagers lying about in pain, he did not know what had happened. He sighed as he realized that the idiots had tried attacking Naruto Uzumaki again. He decided the boy needed a hospital while Sandaime needed to know about this, he walked over to the exhausted six year old and sunshined away.

-x-

**Naruto's Rinnegan : Now, I have warned you, Naruto is strong here, however not every battle he has will be of the curb stomping variety, he has all the skills of the Rinnegan but he can deactivate his at anytime, and can also combine two or three nature types, however this will be more difficult for him compared to someone with a bloodline. The villains are also overpowered as such.**

**Tell me what you thought about this story (Its called The Second Sage for a reason you know), also, I am running a poll about the pairing, it will probably be only for a week, so please vote. There will be a lot of names, and remember, only one can win it as there is no Harem, so please take five minutes of your precious time and vote. Until then.**

**Later.**


	2. The Abilities Of The Rinnegan

**Edit Note: Changed some stuff.**

**CHANGELOG**

**Removed FF NC-17 Fic rant, looks like the purge has stopped, although I am really pissed off that 'Naruto Reads Naruto' is gone, I loved that fic.**

**Removed Suggestions for Sword Names, I have a new one, its not good at all, but it'll work, read on to find out.**

**Removed Suggestions for Combination of Nature Types, I decided that they won't play too much of a role, they will, but not too drastic.**

**Removed Poll Result Update, in case you didn't know..Yugito won.**

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**Well here it is, Naruto: The Second Sage Chapter 2, which is basically a sort of chapter that reveals something's The Rinnegan can do, such as one of the paths and nature manipulation and stuff like that.**

**Now I got some really brilliant responses, and I was pleased. 11 reviews for the chapter is not bad I guess. I hope this story gets more attention, I would like you to also take a few minutes to vote and decide the pairing if you can, that would be much appreciated.**

**Please review and read the chapter, which is the longest I have written yet.**

Naruto spent the next day in a hospital recovering from what the Hokage had declared was some severe trauma that was caused due to an attempt on his life by the villagers and many of whom had not managed to get away before the ANBU had shown up were arrested and at least a couple who had swords in their possessions were in jail, awaiting their fates. The Hokage had decided that two people would be executed as they had violated the direct orders of the Hokage himself by attacking Naruto Uzumaki.

Once Naruto had recovered he was let out, however The Hokage had silently put an ANBU on his trail as he was worried that this was not the last of all the horrible incidents that seemed to happen when Naruto was around. However once the villagers seemed to have been scared away from Naruto, he took the tail off and just had them guard his apartment at night. The old man had been so busy that Naruto did not even get a chance to ask for the scrolls like his father had instructed him to. He decided to do that at another day, while he would now work on trying to figure out how to use his eyes to their full effect.

This was proving to be more difficult than Naruto had expected it to be, for one thing, the fox did not seem to know much about the eyes. The things he did know, he wouldn't tell Naruto as the Kyuubi was of the opinion that attempting those kinds of things would for all intents and purposes finish off Naruto for good, so for the moment Naruto was just working on his gravity manipulation.

He had discovered that not only did he have the ability to push things away, called the Shinra Tensei, he also had the ability to attract things to himself, this was the Bansho Ten'in, Naruto had not quite perfected the abilities yet, however he was getting better at it. Presently he was training with his gravity manipulation, the fox had him go away from the village as he did not want anyone to know about the powers his container had.

Naruto had decided that this was a good plan of action as this would keep people in the dark, he was also sure that the attempts on taking his life would escalate if he was found to be so powerful and those eyes of his would be hunted down, even the old man was not told of those eyes. Naruto couldn't ever use those eyes in the village because the fox had detected something that had been watching them and had deemed it not safe enough to be trusted, so that had put a rest to Naruto's aim of showing off his talents to anyone in the Academy.

The Academy was another cause of concern, August had approached and they were in the second year of studies, there would be only four more years before Naruto would be able to participate in missions and would finally take a shot at accomplishing his dream of becoming Hokage, however the teachers he realized were the real problem, not only had they discriminated in their opinions of him, he wasn't really thought by anyone, all of them just ignored him when he tried some sort of a prank, or they just let him do his own thing, no one cared if he showed up or not, no one cared if he slept in class. They just gave him a cold shoulder, while the laziest boy in class Shikamaru was scolded all the time for sleeping, this only made Naruto really sad as this was not what his father had wanted for him, his father had hoped that he would be treated as a hero for keeping a demon fox within him and yet that never happened. Instead he was just ignored and not acknowledged or helped.

'Oh man' he thought. 'If they knew who my father was, I bet they wouldn't treat me like the way they do now'

"**Naruto"** a voice called out to him, **"Come into my seal, just close your eyes now, the teachers will not mind anyway"**

Naruto nodded before entering the seal. "What is it Kurama?" he asked the fox. The fox snorted, he had told Naruto that he preferred being called The Great Kyuubi no Kitsune, however it hadn't worked on the blonde, the kid just insisted on calling him Kurama. This angered him a lot, however this was important and he had decided that for now, he wouldn't pay any attention to this minor mistake.

"**I hope you are not thinking of doing something as stupid as telling all these stupid people about your father and mother"** it said. Naruto smiled upon hearing that.

"Why the hell would I do that now? I am not dumb Kurama, which is surprising because just a few days ago I would not be able to say that about myself" he said shrugging.

"**What do you mean kit?"** the fox asked him, out of curiosity.

"I used to view myself as a loser, and I did everything I ever did just to get some attention, I became a class clown because I thought I could get Sakura's attention, but deep down even I knew that the villagers hated me because I was a useless piece of trash. But ever since I learnt about my father and the legacy I have to uphold, everything has changed, I feel more alive, I feel different" he finished.

"**Well, I don't know why you would view yourself as a total loser, because a Jinchuriki is a really strong person, but you did not know that so I can understand" **the fox said, his tone resembling one of a man with years of wisdom. **"In that respect, you are like your mother kit, she was pure hearted too, I must say, being sealed in bodies of such pure hearts may have made me go a bit soft, but that does not matter"**

This was another thing that had bothered Naruto, his mother according to Kyuubi had been a Jinchuriki herself, however everyday Naruto asked Kurama what had happened and how he had broken free, the fox just shrugged as he could not remember a single thing. Naruto sighed, as he would have loved to know what had happened. All Naruto knew was that someone had taken control of the fox, however the fox would only refer to that person as 'that man' and never ever gave Naruto his name.

"**Kit, come back to solid ground. I wanted to talk to you about something"** the fox said, Naruto sat down, eager to listen to what it was the fox wanted to say to him.

"**The Rinnegan you have is slightly mutated thanks to my Chakra, for example you are capable of turning it on or off at will, which is a big gift. The eyes itself do not drain your chakra in a noticeable way, so I guess you are okay there. You are also able to harness all the five basic elements"**

Naruto smiled, he had remembered that day. The fox had him steal some chakra conductive paper from the hands of one of the Chunin. The paper had then split into five, one part was wrinkled, the other was wet, another had turned to dust, another had burned and the last one was slashed to bits when Naruto had channeled Chakra through those papers, this indicated that he had all the five natures. He was also capable of using these elements without the Rinnegan activated, the fox had explained this by suggesting that the eyes had changed his genetic makeup, which was the point he was going to get to now.

"**Now, you must remember how I had you train in your Water element, as I remember your mother training with it"** he said, Naruto nodded.

The aim with water training was simple, be able to manipulate water bodies just by using his water Chakra. He was asked to go to a pond and try and work on it. However he had not had much success. He had barely been able to summon the water chakra to do it, instead of being able to extract torrents of water as he had hoped, he only managed to get some drops out. Kurama had told him that this would take some time as nature manipulation is hard.

Kurama himself had never ever needed to use nature manipulation, as he had only one move, the Tailed Beast Bomb which did not need any nature manipulation, so Kurama did not have any idea as to how to do it. He only remembered Kushina using the training.

"**Well kit, I think the genetic chakra you have is changing, thanks to using the water chakra you have"** the fox said.

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked him.

"**Well kit, the first ever Hokage of Konohagakure, Hashirama Senju was capable of using Wood Release, which was the combination of water and earth natures. This was because when he was born; his genetic Chakras had mixed up thus giving another kind of Chakra, the Wood Chakra. Now thanks to my own chakra mutating the Rinnegan, the genetics of yours have changed drastically, but I think that thanks to you harnessing the Water Chakra you have, it has begun mixing with all the other elements in your body. The process is slow and will take a long time to actually complete, about five to six years, however the more you use the Chakras, the more you should be able to mix them with each other, and thus you are more likely to be able to use those special elements"** the fox said.

Naruto stared at the fox open mouthed. "You mean to say that I will be able to use wood release if I train in water Chakra?"

The fox nodded. **"Basically it's like ramen, now ramen has noodles and broth. Noodles and broth both taste good separately, but they get better when they combine don't they, now similarly by using the Water Chakra you have, you are forcing the chakras to combine, and thanks to your redefined genetic makeup, this is not going to affect you in the way it should have. Generally combining nature chakra's blows up in one's face. I have heard that some have died trying to force it, but my Chakra seems to have made you immune to it, now if only-" **the fox paused when he realized that Naruto was not concentrating anymore, as a matter of fact, Naruto was drooling.

"**Hey, what the hell kit, can you stop with the daydreams about ramen and focus on what I am trying to tell you?"** it shouted, causing Naruto to snap out of it.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Naruto asked Kyuubi, grinning sheepishly as the fox sighed.

"**Look, consider a soup bowl, by using your water chakra, consider yourself putting some of it into the bowl, now as you practice more with water, you put more into the bowl. Then you put some earth Chakra into the bowl, thus creating Wood Chakra. In this way, by practicing with all the elements, you should be able to mix up and be able to access all the sub elemental chakras"** the fox said. Naruto eyes widened.

"So I should be able to use Wood release?" he asked the fox. The fox nodded.

"**Not just that, but also as far as I know, you can use Wood, Ice, Boil, and Storm Releases as well, congratulations, you have far too much power that you will be able to harness than you should"** the fox said sighing. Naruto began jumping up and down with excitement.

"YATTA!" he shouted. "I am awesome, now I can become Hokage and protect these people" he said, dancing around.

The surroundings in his mindscape were suddenly filled with Ramen like scents, this was something the Kyuubi couldn't explain.

'**Your son is just like Kushina and looks like Minato I can't help but think that he is going to be like father, I wonder where the others Biju's are, I wonder if they will be able to sense what I have been able to about him' **he thought to himself.

"**Kit, stop dancing now, just get out and leave me. After doing that much thinking, I like sleeping"** the fox said, sighing. Naruto nodded and left the mindscape.

Naruto returned to the mortal plane from his mindscape and opened his eyes, looking aroung, he realized that something was not right. Everyone in the class was looking at him, Naruto gulped as he turned, only to be met by the gaze of their new Chunin instructor for the next few years. His name was Iruka Umino. Naruto sighed, this instructor was not looking too happy about Naruto napping, but he knew that just like every other instructor he ever had, this one would just ignore him too.

However that did not happen.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI" Iruka shouted, "If I catch you asleep in my class again, I will hit you harder" Iruka said, threateningly.

"Harder than what?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious.

"Harder than this" Iruka said, before bonking Naruto on the head and leaving him with a lump, the class laughed while even Iruka seemed to have cracked up a little at the scene that had ensued.

'This guy is different' Naruto thought. 'He actually did something, he acknowledged me, wonder why he did that, I mean he had taught us before, so why was he so concerned about me sleeping now, I wonder what is up?' he mused, scratching his head.

"Now focus in class Naruto, this is very important" he said. Naruto sighed, and decided to act like the class clown again, as this was going to be his mask for the next few years.

"This is all useless Iruka sensei, come on and teach us some Jutsus so that I can defeat the Hokage" Naruto said, pumping his fists up and down. Iruka sighed.

"Naruto, you are too young to actually learn Jutsu, but by listening to the theory of it all you will be able to learn it better, so just do as I say and it will be alright, okay?" Iruka asked Naruto, who nodded.

"As if a baka like you can learn anything" a certain pink haired girl who Naruto thought he had liked screeched. Naruto sighed, he had to be in fake love with her for the next few years. 'What a drag' he thought, doing his best Shikamaru lazy face at Sakura instead of pouting while the class laughed.

Not only was he forced to bear some humiliation, he was also going to have to concentrate in class, and he did not like this one bit. He decided that it was time to zone out and began daydreaming about all the asses he would kick when he had mastered the Wood style.

-x-

Naruto had managed sneaking out of Mizuki sensei's class later on in the day. After Iruka's class was over, Naruto had been so bored that he had to sneak out, he had been thinking about going to the Ramen store when he saw a grown man who had really bushy eyebrows and was wearing a green colored body suit. This man looked extremely creepy, but even then, Naruto had to admit that he looked strong. There was another boy who had bushy brows and was wearing a blue colored shirt and pants. Naruto found this eerie resemblance between the two people really creepy, and so he had to do it.

"Who are you?" the little boy had asked the man, who smiled and began posing enthusiastically.

"I AM KONOHA'S SUBLIME GREEN BEAST OF PREY, MIGHT GUY" he said, before sticking out his thumb and posing with a smile that made his teeth sparkle. The whole thing creeped Naruto out, however it did not really have the same effect on the small boy, who was smiling.

"I AM ROCK LEE, NO NICKNAME, BUT I REALLY LIKE THE WORD MOUNTIES" he said, posing in the same way that Guy had posed a minute ago. Naruto sweat dropped at this, this was crazy, the whole thing, and yet he couldn't take his eyes off this.

The big man, named Might Guy seemed to be impressed though. "Ah, you burn with the flames of youth, maybe when you become Genin, I shall train you" he said. The kid named Lee smiled.

"Yes, but I cannot channel Chakra" the kid said. "I have a birth defect which made it impossible for me to channel any Chakra whatsoever, I cannot become a ninja" Lee said sadly. Even Naruto felt sad at this, this kid was weird but he did not deserve it.

"Nonsense, I am Jounin and even I know only one technique that can help me that requires Ninjutsu" the man named Guy said, before making hand seals. Naruto perked up, no one to teach him any Jutsu whatsoever, so he would have to see this. He memorised the seals that the Jounin had made, he also realised that the Jounin had made a contribution of blood before using the technique.

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu"

He looked on to see what would happen, and suddenly from out of nowhere a turtle appeared.

"Whoa" Naruto said out loud. This caused Lee and Guy to look in Naruto's general direction. The turtle vanished as Guy and Lee both turned towards the direction from which the voice had come.

"Come out spy, that is most unyouthful of you to hide like that" Might Guy said, causing Naruto to shudder, however he realized that his jig was up, he reluctantly came out, with a grin on his face.

"I am sorry, but I was so impresed by your introduction that I had to stay" Naruto lied, trying to calm down the Jounin who had a stoic face. Upon hearing this Guy cracked up.

"Ah, another youthful student who usese his energy to play pranks on the entire village, I did not know you were a fan of flashy entrances Naruto Uzumaki" Might Guy said enthusiastically. "I shall show you the nice guy pose for I am extremely happy with what has happened here today" he said.

Naruto tried to stop him however Might Guy posed in the same way he had posed in front of Lee. Might Guy then turned to Lee, failing to notice the look on Naruto's face (one of complete horror) and said-

"I shall train you so that you become a ninja that uses only taijutsu, my own style, called Goken, or the strong fist when I find the time, so that by your impressive skills, you allow your youth to shine" the man said to Lee, who lit up immediately.

"Hey, Guy-san" Naruto called out to Might Guy, "Can you teach me too?" he asked. Guy smiled at Naruto's question.

"TWO youthful students?" he said. "It is good to know that Konoha is going to have shinobi that are going to show the flames of youth to the whole wide world, however I have already taken Lee as my apprentice" he said, changing his tone from a happy one to a sombre one. Naruto nodded, he understood, Lee had just somehow beaten him to a Taijutsu trainer.

Despite being weird, the Might Guy seemed like a nice person, he knew who Naruto was however did not seem to have any prejudice against him. Might Guy saw the look on Naruto's face and began crying.

"Oh, how can I deny a person wanting to show off his youth?" Might Guy screamed, Lee nodded.

"Hai, Guy-sensei, you simply have to train Naruto-kun here so that his flames of youth can shine bright" Rock Lee said.

Naruto gulped, it was like they had found each other's soulmates here.

"Well, not Goken, but I presume I can give you another style that you might learn from a scroll and then you can spar with me and Lee in practice?" he asked Naruto, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Ah, yes, this is a very admirable solution indeed, as a matter of fact, I have just the style for you, you seem to be the kind of person who will be athletic, so you need something that allows you to flow in battle, this is the Flowing Palm style" Gai said, in a way that sounded really regal.

"The flowing palm?" Naruto asked him.

"Yes, this is a very youthful style, much like my own Goken, this is a very beneficial to the user. I had trained in this before I created my own style. The aim is to attack and defend at the same time, here you go." He said handing Naruto the scroll.

"Now my youthful students, go and practice. Let the flames of your youth shine. Lee, I shall train you tomorrow at training ground 11, be there at five in the morning, Naruto-kun, you can come as well" he said, before Sunshining away.

Rock Lee introduced himself to Naruto the same way Guy had and Naruto realized that Guy had already corrupted Lee.

As soon as Lee had left, Naruto had travelled back to his apartment, where he opened the scroll with Flowing Palm written on it.

"Flowing Palm" he began reading out aloud. "The purpose of this fighting style, like most of the boundless fist, is to attack while being able to defend at the same time. By engaging an attack enemy, striking though their center, Yielding, following though, relaxing, nullify enemies force, use enemies force against them, and adding their own force. The user is able to quickly attack the enemy and defend at the same time" he finished. This style could indeed prove useful.

He spent the night practicing the style of Taijutsu.

-x-

Naruto spent the next few weeks training with Lee and Guy, Lee seemed to be a Taijutsu genius with really amazing determination, Naruto had become competent in the Flowing Palm technique, including having learnt a taijutsu known as Focus Point, which was basically like the Jyuuken that the Hyuga used, except it was really presice and two hits could shut down an organ completely.

However, Naruto realized that he was not a Taijutsu kind of guy, however he had a really strange experience when he attempted a Ninjutsu. He had still not asked the old man for the scrolls, and his own engrossment with the Flowing Palm had made him forget the Kuchiyose no Jutsu that Guy had used in front of him, however today he was going to learn it.

No one had told him that a contract was needed to summon the animals and he had assmed that the Jutsu summoned turtles, or maybe it summoned whatever the user was thinking of. He decided he wanted to summon a giant bird and activated his Rinnegan, pure instinct telling him to do so.

He bit his thumb and made the seals, imagining a giant eagle as he cried out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu".

The result was instantaneous, an eagle materialized out of nowhere, it also had drained a significant amount of Naruto's Chakra. Naruto still had plenty but he looked at the Eagle in a strange fashion.

"How do I tell you what to do?" he asked the eagle.

"**Kit" **came Kyuubi's voice from within the mindscape. **"Just think about what you want to do, and never attempt anything that dangerous without waking me up first. A Summoning Jutsu requires a contract of some sort, but you do not need it. This must be due to those eyes of yours"** he said.

Naruto nodded. 'Flap your wings' he thought looking at the Eagle. The eagle immediately flapped its wings.

"This is so cool" he said, enthusiastically as he climbed aboard the eagle.

'Now fly high enough so that no one can make out that its me, then take me around the village' he said.

Sure enough, Naruto spent that day flying around the village instead of training, and he did it till he realized that he did not have enough Chakra left. The eagle vanished as soon as he hit ground and Naruto slumped over, unconscious.

Naruto realized that the advantages of The Rinnegan was that he could summon any animal he wanted and could control it with his thoughts, which he began training himself in. He also began working on his reserves, which were already Kage level, but he wanted to be able to use the Summoning Jutsu to his full advantage, and he did.

Soon he could summon numerous creatures without any significant loss in his Chakra, which he considered was amazing for him to do. He realized that this could unlock a whole new world for him, he could use the animals to sneak around and grab some Jutsu scrolls that he could then use to teach himself some useful Jutsus. The fox was obviously not going to help with learning all the elemental Jutsus, so maybe could grab some scrolls for himself to learn from, the possibilities were endless.

Naruto cursed himself for everything that had happened, here he was with these eyes that the Kyuubi had said were all seeing and powerful and were possessed by the Sage Of Six Paths who was the God of all Jutsu himself, and yet thanks to who he was, he couldn't exactly brag about it, and he couldn't ask anyone for help, because no one would give it to him even if he did. Might Guy was just one of the people in the village, not everyone would be as intelligent as Guy to realize that what was inside him was not him, and yet, the fox was not necessarily a bad thing to have, after all these days of loneliness, the fox, no matter how cynical he was, he still was the only company Naruto had, Naruto could call him one of the few friends, actually apart from Lee it seemed like Kurama was his only friend.

For some reason Naruto found that really depressing, and could anyone really blame him for feeling that way?

Naruto was depressed enough and he was fed up with putting off asking the old man for what was rightfully his, so he decided that enough was enough and that he would go and ask the old man for his scrolls.

The clerk in The Hokage's office was not exactly the person who Naruto would want to see on a day that he was just not in a good mood. He knew that the old man was going to be free and reading those disgusting books of his at the moment, however the clerk, who doubled up as his secretary was a total idiot, just like all the villagers, she also thought that Naruto was the nine tailed fox, and Naruto had little tolerance for people like that.

As he walked up to the office, the clerk sneered upon seeing him.

"I love that disgusting impression on your face" Naruto said, it was as if someone had forced him to say it but he was glad that he did. "It makes you look constipated, so the next time someone makes that face, I know what is wrong" he said laughing.

The clerk was apparently in a bad mood to. "What do you want demon brat?" she snarled.

"A meeting with the old man" he said simply.

"No way demon brat, and treat him with some respect, he is Hokage-sama to you" she said.

"Don't teach me manners, especially not ignorant fools like you, I want to talk to The Hokage, so you will let me meet him, or else-"

The clerk laughed, "Or else what?" she asked him.

"I'll tell the Hokage that you told me that I am the Kyuubi, and you know what that means don't you" he said smiling. Naruto felt bad for playing this card, however he was extremely happy to see the expression on the clerk's face.

"You wouldn't dare-"

"I would" Naruto said, grinning evilly now, this woman was in for a shock. "So its your call" he said.

The clerk sighed, and let Naruto in, Naruto smiled, "Now that is more like it" he said smiling at the woman widely.

The woman scowled at Naruto, who was proud of himself for having played that kind of a devious trick.

The Hokage, just like Naruto had suspected was reading the disgusting Icha Icha Paradise books. He smiled.

"I knew you were not busy old man" he said, startling the Hokage who rushed to hide those books in his drawer, stumbling and his face flushed because of the way Naruto had gotten the drop on him.

"The Hokage cannot read stuff like this old man, aren't you supposed to be protecting the village and not reading porn in your office" he asked The Hokage who smiled.

"Naruto I have had a long day you know, paperwork and everything, so cut me some slack will you, I am a hard working man, you know" he said smiling. Naruto nodded.

"Well" the Hokage said continuing, "Since you barged in like that I am sure you have something important to say Naruto, so spit it out will you?" he asked Naruto who nodded.

"Yeah, I was getting to that actually. I came here for something that is mine" he said, which caused the Hokage to raise an eyebrow.

"Run out of allowance? That is highly unlikely of you Naruto" he said. "Because you usually have a lot of savings in your Gama-chan" he said, which caused Naruto to subconsciously rub the spot where the frog shaped wallet was resting at the moment.

"Not my allowance old man" he said, causing the old man to look at him in a strange manner. "This is a secret old man, so I want only you to hear this, okay?" he asked the Hokage, who sighed.

"Okay, well, you heard the kid. Leave" he said, clapping as suddenly two ANBU came out and left the office.

"So Naruto, what do you want to tell me?" he asked Naruto, who focused some Chakra to his eyes. The color of his eyes changed, causing Hokage's eyes to widen.

"Is that the-"

"Not the Sharingan" Naruto said interrupting whatever the old man was going to say. "This is the Rinnegan, I am sure you have heard of it" he said, causing the old man to look like he had a heart attack as he fell back on his chair, slumping further.

"What the hell?" he asked the old man who was sunk back in his chair, "Are you okay old man?" he asked him, who nodded.

"Yes I am fine, but this is shocking, do you have any idea how you got it?" he asked Naruto, who shook his head. Although technically he did, the fox had told him not to mention how he got it to anyone.

"So that is what happened when the villagers attacked you, it wasn't the fox was it?" he asked Naruto, referring to the incident two weeks ago when a mob was found lying because they foolishly attacked him.

"Way to execute two of those civilians old man, they have stopped attacking me lately, I know that they should not have died however I guess it worked out fine for me" he said.

"I have no idea what those eyes of yours can do" he said, still staring at his eyes. Naruto smiled.

"Well, for one thing, I have nature control and I can actually mix to create sub-elements, so you are looking at a future wood user" he said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Also I can summon animals without needing a contract, and I seem to have really increased grasping abilities and good control, however I need some scrolls old man, I really need to train, I mean my father gave you some scrolls of his right, I mean I heard that every Hokage leaves some sort of scroll for his successor in case of a sudden death?" he asked the old man, who paled.

"Yes, I know my father is the Yondaime, to think about it, the resemblance is really uncanny isn't it?" he asked the old man.

"I am sorry Naruto, I would have told you but-"

"Save it old man, I know you did it to protect me, I can understand, but you can make it up to me by giving me the scrolls my father left, for me" he said. He then told the Hokage about everything that had happened the day the mob had attacked him.

The old man nodded. "Well, there are something's that you are not really ready for yet, but if you say that you have some good Chakra control, I think I will give you this" he said pulling out a scroll from the shelf behind him which had the kanji for 'Spiral' on it.

"This is your father's prized technique, it is an A rank Jutsu known as the Rasengan, your father had created this Jutsu and it took him three years to do it, but I think you will be able to do it faster than that" he said smiling as he gave Naruto the scroll.

"It's a blood scroll, only someone with the DNA of your father running through his veins could open that, try it" he said.

Naruto bit his thumb and put some blood in the scroll which opened instantly.

"So I need some water balloons and air balloons, what the hell?" he said looking at the Hokage.

"It involves shape manipulation of Chakra, you rotate the Chakra with speed fast enough that can drill through almost anything" he said smiling at Naruto's expression.

"So this is the kind of Jutsu my dad made huh?" he asked The Hokage, who nodded.

"I also have something else I would like you to start, seeing that you are the son of your father and mother, I will give you this" he said, pulling out a green book.

On the book was written 'The Basics of Sealing Arts'

"Fuinjutsu is a very intricate art Naruto; however both of your parents were extremely good at it, and it runs in your blood so I need you to read this" he said, Naruto nodded. This was gold, he was getting a lot of stuff from the Hokage.

"Now I am sure you are aware of the high chakra reserves your tenant brings, that along with possessing the Rinnegan gives you reserves that are probably higher than me, so I can help you with something that will speed your training" he said to Naruto, who looked like a sponge at the moment, just absorbing everything that had happened up to this point.

"This is the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, it is a Jounin level jutsu that creates solid clones" he said, writing down the hand seals. "You should be able to make hundreds of clones thanks to your reserves and get this, whatever your clones experience, you get back. So you can see the potential in training with the clones" he said.

Naruto was wide eyed, it was like the eyes of his had left him with a quest for knowledge.

"This is amazing old man" he said literally jumping up and down in his seat as the Hokage smiled at him, this was the enthusiasm he wished Kakashi would show, the Jounin was always late for each and every mission that he was assigned.

"Well, I think you should leave and get to training, however do not miss your academy classes" he said, which caused Naruto to groan.

-x-

The next two months were great for Naruto, he learned the Shadow Clones in less than an hour, which was surprising, and he could make at least a thousand clones, which Naruto would then split. He began practicing the flowing palm with about a hundred clones. The other clones worked on the Rasengan, according to his father's scroll, he had worked on completing the Rasengan by mixing it with his nature manipulation, however he had not been able to do it. Naruto on the other hand had asked the Hokage about nature manipulation, and the Hokage had given him a scroll which gave him the details on wind nature manipulation.

Using his clones, he had managed cutting the leaf, however he could not find any waterfall to cut, so the training had been put on hold. However the water training had been going along nicely, after managing to manipulate water bodies to fill a bottle, Naruto and his clones worked on the creation of torrents, he then began practicing on this relentlessly, and he had pretty much gotten the whole exercise down.

Kurama had told him that thanks to the use of Wind and Water Chakra, Naruto had finally managed creating some Ice Chakra, thanks to the Chakras mixing, Kurama had told him that by using the clones, he had speeded up the whole process.

Naruto had found himself creating some Ice by freezing the moisture around him, however he had no ideas as to how he would go about using the ice in a jutsu. Kurama had told him to read up on hand seals and how he could use it to manipulate the whole nature of Ice.

Apart from training for Ice, Wind and Water, Naruto had also been reading up on Sealing, and realized that he took to sealing like a fish takes to water. He had already finished reading the book twice over and had begun working on his own ink.

Sealing arts involved mixing ink with Chakra and creating his own language of sealing, any seal master was supposed to have his own brand of seals. Naruto had already done a lot of work, including some exploding seals that would not allow anyone but himself to enter his apartment without blowing themselves up.

However Naruto still got a lot of mean looks from the villagers. Even at the academy, all the girls were into Sasuke Uchiha which really infuriated him. The fangirls were infuriating beyond measure, they all seemed to only screech and do nothing else. However there was one experience with a fan girl that left a really bad taste in Naruto's mouth.

This was one day after the academy when Naruto was reading the book on Intermediate Sealing Arts. He had only recently acquired the book and was very happy to have found it. He was reading on how to place seals on people without using ink when he found the book snatched from his hands by Sakura Haruno.

"Give me my book back" he said looking at Sakura, who was now peering at the book she had snatched from Naruto.

"No" she said. "A baka like you does not deserve to know about Fuinjutsu, only Sasuke-kun may read about it" she said.

"Give me my book back" he said, not in a mood for any of this, however Sakura refused.

"No, only Sasuke-kun may have it" she said, taking off with his book.

Naruto sighed as he activated his Rinnegan.

"Bansho Ten'in" he called out as Sakura came flying right back at Naruto, who deactivated his eyes immediately.

Naruto now had Sakura by the grasp of her hair and pulled on it, causing Sakura to cry out in pain. Naruto felt bad at doing this, but he decided that the stupid fan girl needed to learn a lesson.

"Give me that book, or I will cut all your hair and show it to Sasuke-kun, you know how he does not like short hair right?" he asked her. Sakura began sweating at this.

"Please don't" she said handing Naruto the book back.

"Good" Naruto said smiling. "I hope you learned your lesson, because otherwise there will be hell to pay" he said. Sakura gulped.

"How did you pull me back like that?" she asked him in ear. Naruto smiled. "I used a rope" he said lying, however the girl was stupid enough to believe it.

"Ninja rope?" she asked him.

"Yes" he said, "You wanna give some to Sasuke-kun?" he asked her in a mocking tone which made Sakura cringe.

After that encounter there was not much that really happened, October 10th came around and Naruto was hunted down by the villagers, except he had decided to spend his birthday outside the village training. He had finally managed practicing his Earth style element and had managed to produce Wood Chakra in his body. The wind and earth had also combined to form crystal release, which was simple enough to use and master as it just crystallized everything in the surroundings as it was used.

Naruto realized that he would need to start working on the other elements, namely fire and lightening as they would make a really good potent combination for him to use, however at the moment he was happy with possessing different types of nature combinations.

"**Kit, shouldn't you be celebrating your birthday"** the fox asked him.

Naruto shook his head, "No, those bastards really look for excuses to hunt me down and I will be damned before I give them a chance" he said.

"What I really need to focus on is the Rasengan" he said. He had been working on combining the Rasengan with a nature type, he had actually moved all his clones into trying to work on it, however nothing had actually come off it.

"**Kit, I think you should try combining Wind Chakra, you seem really proficient with it, maybe that was your strongest affinity before the Rinnegan came along"** the fox suggested.

Naruto nodded, he began working on practicing wind effusion into the Rasengan with his clones, the practice went on for about two hours before Naruto called the clones to halt.

He then dispelled them one by one, which took an hour in itself.

"Okay" Naruto said with a determined look in his face.

"Let's do this"

He began infusing his wind Chakra with the Rasengan, and finally, he could feel it. The blue sphere had some sort of visible wind blade coming in and out of it, that was apparently the wind Chakra that was infused.

"Complete" he said. **"Fuuton: Rasengan"** he said before smashing it into a tree.

What happened next was according to Naruto the coolest thing he had ever seen, the tree he smashed it into was completely wrecked, uprooted and cut into three halves.

"**That is a powerful Jutsu" **the Kyuubi said, sounding slightly awestruck.

"I know right" Naruto said, smiling to himself. He had come a long way already. He had accomplished his father's dream of completing The Rasengan, and he did it aged 7.

"**Those eyes of yours kit, you show the talent to succeed The Sage Of Six Paths, dare I say I am proud of my container"**the fox said, with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Thanks Kurama" Naruto said smiling. "I guess we need to start working on our Wood Release" he said.

"**I remember Hashirama Senju and his damn wood release techniques" **Kyuubi said sighing. **"He had the ability to control the tailed beast"** he said.

"Really?" Naruto asked him.

"**Yes, Hashirama Senju came in contact with several tailed beasts, which he distributed among the villages, while his wife, Mito Uzumaki sealed me into herself, thus keeping me in Konoha" **the fox said.

Naruto nodded, he had some scrolls for the wood release techniques so he began practicing again.

-x-

Two more months passed before a tragedy shook Konoha, the entire Uchiha clan was massacred, only one person, Sasuke Uchiha had survived. Meanwhile it was found out that Itachi Uchiha, Weasel of the ANBU had defected the village, according to Sasuke's testimony, Itachi had killed his clan to test his abilities, Sasuke would never be the same, and nor would Konoha. It was already well known that the Uchiha clan that ran the Local Police Force was an important asset for the village.

Sasuke's behavior had changed ever since he had come back to the village. He had become more obnoxious and somewhat of a loner, meanwhile the fan girls found this even more cooler than before, they would not leave him alone. Naruto felt sort of bad for Sasuke, seeing as to how both of them were one of a kind, they came from a prestigious family but had no one left. For Sasuke it would be even worse since he had grown up with a family and Naruto had never really known any parental love. Naruto would have reached out to Sasuke but his pride got the better of him and he decided to leave Sasuke alone.

Naruto on the other hand had perfected three of his basic elements, as a matter of fact he had already even learnt loads of Wood style techniques and had created a few Ice and Crystal techniques.

In January Naruto was summoned to the Hokage's office, he had rushed over there immediately.

"Naruto, I have a mission for you" the Hokage said, which caused Naruto to cough.

"Mission?" he asked the Hokage.

"Yes" the old man nodded, "You will go to Uzushigakure, the village from where your clan hailed, and you will be going with one of my own students" he said.

The window opened to reveal a tall white haired man with markings on his face.

"Hey brat, it's me, Jiraiya, the Great Toad Sage" he said, posing with a toad.

Naruto sweat dropped, this was going to be really something.

**Done, that was long and took me THREE days to write, blame my laziness. I might make some mistakes which is only human, so forgive me for that. I will go back and edit them on my time, but for now I guess this is fine.**

**This was a filler chapter with Naruto discovering his skill, a vague mention of the Uchiha massacre and an awkward cliffhanger ending. Next Chapter Naruto visits his village with Jiraiya, now here is where I need your help**

**Also I would like to thank Naruto Fannon for the Flowing Palm Taijutsu style. And also U2 (for making The Joshua Tree which I listened to exclusively while writing this chapter)**

**Later.**


	3. The Village Of Origin

**Edit Note: Changed some stuff**

**CHANGELOG**

**Removed Poll Updates**

**Removed some small stuff that did not matter too much**

**Removed Herborine***

* * *

**I am back with the Third Chapter of Naruto: The Second Sage, this chapter was alright to write, although I am concerned with the Sword. I am sure many people would have wanted to see Naruto take the sword after a big fight, but I think I did alright with the sword. Read on to find out.**

**I was not in the best of health when I wrote this chapter, thus explaining the length of this thing, its barely 6,000 words, I had wanted more on there but for now its fine, I also had to throw my parents a party for their 25thAnniversary and had a hectic couple of days which hindered my writing, but I had to get stuff out, so I did.**

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, IT IS THE PROPERTY OF MASASHI KISHIMOTO, PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE, AND MY SMOKING HABIT, I NEED TO SMOKE, IT HELPS ME BREATHE, IT GIVES ME INNER STRENGTH.**

Naruto looked at the person who had gravity defying hair standing in front of him. "The great toad sage Jiraiya?" he asked him incredulously. Jiraiya nodded.

"That is right" he said. "I am the Great Sage Of Konoha, one of The Legendary Three" he said dramatically.

"The legendary three jokers?" Naruto asked him, at which Jiraiya face faulted.

"Damn it brat, you ruined my entrance" he said, "There will be hell to pay for this" he said.

"Shut up you old geezer" Naruto shot back at him, not caring if this guy was a toad sage or a legend, he was irritating as all hell.

Sarutobi watched the scene in front of him with amusement. It reminded him of when Jiraiya first met Kushina, she had treated him the same way Naruto was treating him now.

'He has come a long way already Kushina' Sarutobi thought smiling as Naruto and Jiraiya continued their back and forth. 'You would be proud of him'

"Pervy Sage" Naruto said. "I have seen you before, when I was four, you were peeping in the women's section of the hot spring, and then somebody caught you and you had to run away" he said laughing at Jiraiya who had a scowl on his face.

"Don't call me that brat" he said with a pout, but Naruto had no intention of stopping with the ribbing. He continued until Sarutobi had enough.

"Okay" Sarutobi said interrupting their volley. "I am tired of this now, Naruto will you listen to this mission I have for you?" he asked Naruto, who nodded.

"Sorry Old man, it's just that this Pervy Sage is a real idiot" he said sighing. "And I thought you interrupted my training just so I could meet this man here" he said.

Sarutobi smiled. "Jiraiya can be like that, but I am getting to my point now" Sarutobi said.

"Now Naruto" Sarutobi continued when he realized that there wouldn't be any further interruptions. "You hail from the Uzumaki clan, which is a clan well known for having been allies of Konoha in the Shinobi Wars, however the whole clan was wiped out some years ago" he said.

"They lived in Uzushigakure, the village hidden in the Whirlpools, the symbols most Konoha shinobi wear on their shoulders, the one of the spiral is actually the symbol of your clan, it was done to signify the alliances of the two villages" he said.

"The Uzumaki were infamous for their proficiency in Fuinjutsu, they were highly feared and the Uzumaki ninja were also master swordsmen. They could turn any battle in the favor of the side they were participating in the battle for, and for that reason many villages wanted them taken down

"They did that by allying against your village, Iwa, Kiri and Kumo were all involved in the taking down of your village. There was a fierce battle fought for three days with all the shinobi forces against the Uzumaki, however after three days the battle turned in the favor of the alliance between the three villages, and yet the Uzumaki had managed wiping out all of their forces.

"That combined with your own father taking out thousands of Iwa ninja had turned the battle in Konoha's favor and the battle had finally been won." Sarutobi finished.

Naruto smiled. It was good to know where he got all his determination from.

"The Uzumaki Clan" said Jiraiya standing up and walking towards the window. "They were known for their amazing life spans, Uzumaki clansmen would live on for years and years. They were also known for their stamina which was Godlike in some respects" Jiraiya said. "I can say that I myself learned some of the sealing from the Uzumaki, they trusted me enough and the reason I am the seal master is because of that" Jiraiya said.

Naruto's eyes widened. This guy was a seal master?

"Naruto, you can visit the village, you always needed to be with an Uzumaki to get in or you needed to be allowed. I am sure you will be allowed to go in too, there are a lot of possessions there, including some tips on sealing, I want you to go there and recover it. Not only you, but also Konoha can use it to become stronger, and then in the future we can train our ninjas in Fuinjutsu. There is also a high probability that there might be some weapons there, you can pick one to train with" Sarutobi said smiling.

Naruto grinned, maybe he could find a cool sword to fight with, he had always wanted one and now he could have one. "Really old man?" he asked Sarutobi, who nodded.

"Yes, finally I can have a sword for myself" Naruto said pumping his fists in the air. Jiraiya smiled.

"Don't get too excited brat, I am accompanying you, and I will train you" Jiraiya said in the same pompous tone that he had taken on when he had first met Naruto. Naruto scowled.

"Oh yeah? You don't need to, I can train by myself" he said to Jiraiya, who sighed.

"Naruto" Sarutobi said. "Are you sure that is a good idea, I mean he did train your father" he told Naruto.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a funny expression which made Jiraiya feel like a monkey in the zoo. "What are you looking at?" he asked Naruto.

"Are you telling the truth old man, this pervert taught my father?" he asked Sarutobi who nodded. Jiraiya sighed.

"You know, you might think I am an incompetent loser, but I am actually pretty strong, your father was one of my most promising students" he said sighing. "He had a future till the Kyuubi attacked" Jiraiya said sadly.

"Do you know?" he continued. "You were named by me?" he asked Naruto who's eyes widened again. "Yes" Jiraiya said smiling at Naruto's expression. "You were the name of the lead character in my book, 'The Tale Of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi' he said, taking out a green colored book and tossing it to Naruto who caught it.

"This book was horrible, it barely sold. No wonder I had to write Icha Icha" he said sighing.

Naruto stiffened. This guy wrote those books?

"I did not know you had such a tough life kid, I mean the one time I visited the village after you were born was to deliver a report, and I didn't even meet Sensei" he said sadly.

"But now that I am here" he said, his tone doing a complete changeover, "I will train you in your Father's technique, The Rasengan" he said, flashing a smile.

"I learned that already" Naruto said, which caused Jiraiya to fall over.

"What the hell?" Jiraiya asked Sarutobi. "This kid learnt the Rasengan at 7 years of age, now you will tell me he completed the technique too" Jiraiya said, at which Sarutobi nodded.

"As a matter of fact" he said smiling, "He did"

Jiraiya was completely shocked at this, he could not believe it, this kid had completed the Rasengan, something he himself couldn't do.

"Naruto" Sarutobi said. "Channel some chakra to your eyes" he said. Naruto nodded and did what was asked of him.

"No- no way- that-that is" Jiraiya said stammering.

"The Rinnegan" Sarutobi said simply.

"Yes, but it looks different, is that because of the fox" he asked Sarutobi, who nodded.

"That is what Kurama says it is" Naruto said.

"Kurama?" Jiraiya asked him.

"Oh yeah, Kyuubi's real name is Kurama, cute huh?" he asked Jiraiya. Who stared open mouthed at Naruto like he was some kind of an alien.

"Listen, you two catch up at Ichiraku Ramen Bar, I have loads of work to do" he said dismissing both of them. "Leave for the village tomorrow, it's in the Land Of Whirlpools, not too far away from the Land Of The Waves" he said. "Jiraiya has been there so he knows where it is" he said. Naruto nodded. The two soon left the office, leaving Sarutobi with his paperwork.

'Does anybody have the cheat code to beat paper work?' he thought to himself sighing as he went on with his routine.

-x-

"So you named me eh?" Naruto asked Jiraiya, who nodded. They had just left the village, Naruto had spent last night sealing his belongings in a seal, Jiraiya was impressed that Naruto could use seals with such effectiveness already.

"Yeah, I told your father that Naruto was a name I came up with while thinking of Ramen, but he insisted on you being called Naruto" he said.

"What would have happened if I was a girl?" he asked Jiraiya, "I mean Naruto is a guy's name right, so" he trailed off.

Jiraiya laughed. "I guess then we would call you Naruko, but how does it matter?" he asked Naruto who had a serious expression on his face.

"I just wished my parents were the one who told me all this you know" he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. Jiraiya smiled.

"Oh, your parents are alive" he said, which made Naruto stop walking. "WHAT?" he asked Jiraiya.

"I meant here" he said rubbing his chest, indicating the heart, and "Up there" he said pointing to the heavens. "I'm sure they are watching" he said.

"What do you think they are saying right about now?" he asked Jiraiya who sighed.

"They are angry that I wasn't there for my godson" he said. Naruto nodded his head.

"Look Pervy Sage, I can understand why you weren't here, you had things to do" he said. Jiraiya smiled.

"Yes Naruto, I had a spy network to run, and I expected you to fend for yourself till I came along, you see I would have trained you either way, after all you are the son of my best student, and someone I hope to pass on my own teachings to" he said. "I just hoped that you would be ready to appreciate what was taught to you" he said.

"I however did not expect the villagers to be such idiots" Jiraiya said sadly, "Or else I would have done something" he said. Naruto smiled.

"Don't blame them Pervy Sage, I mean come on, they are poisoned by those fools on the council, especially the civilian council" he said. Jiraiya nodded.

"Those fools are idiots, which is why I want you to hide the Rinnegan from them as long as possible, do you understand?" he asked Naruto, who nodded.

"Kurama told me that already, that is not a problem" he said. Jiraiya nodded.

"What else did the fox teach you?" he asked Naruto

"Water Manipulation, I learnt Earth and Wind by myself. I perfected the Fuuton: Rasengan by myself too" he said.

"What about other things?" he asked Naruto.

"Oh, that reminds me" he said biting his thumb and making the hand seals for the-

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu" he called out hitting his hands on the ground.

Jiraiya wasn't sure if Naruto had a contract, however a giant bird was summoned nonetheless.

Jiraiya stared at the bird open mouthed. Even while training Nagato he hadn't seen anything like this. The giant bird looked like one of those Rocs from the old days, those giant birds which were known to have carried off innocent children to their deaths.

"My Rinnegan allows me to summon these" he said, pointing out the eyes of the Roc, which also had the red colored Rinnegan eyes. "Actually any animal as long as I have Chakra" he said as he got on the bird.

"Come on old man, are you gonna hop on or not?" he asked Jiraiya, who nodded and rushed over to the bird.

"So you tell me the directions and this bird will fly us there, keep in mind my limit with this bird is five hours, beyond that I get tired" he said. Jiraiya nodded, they were outside Konoha, five miles away from the main gates.

"Wave Country is to the west" he said as he sat behind Naruto, who nodded. The bird took off immediately and to Jiraiya's delight, they were going pretty fast.

"This is a useful skill" Jiraiya told him. Naruto nodded.

"I know, I actually practiced for something like this, I had to build up my Chakra reserves for all that" he said. "Lots of water walking and tree climbing" he said. Jiraiya smiled, Naruto was taking his training really seriously.

-x-

Hiruzen Sarutobi was back in his office staring at the moon, the paperwork had kept him in the office for a long time, but it wasn't like he had anyone to go back to. Only Konohamaru was the relative he had in the village, his son was still working for the Fire Lord. Sarutobi sighed as someone knocked on the door. It was his old teammate, Danzou Shimura, the man had been his rival back in the day and now he was a war veteran, with bandages covering his arm and one eye, leaving him with one good arm and one good eye.

"Hiruzen" Danzou said to him, in what Sarutobi assumed was a greeting.

"Yes Danzou" Sarutobi replied, indicating for him to take a seat, however Danzou did not take a seat.

"Some people have seen Naruto leave the village with Jiraiya" he said. "What is the meaning of this Hiruzen?" he asked. Sarutobi sighed.

"It's a training trip Danzou" he said, in his own way to assuage Danzou, who had for long advocated that Naruto be kept safe and brought up as a weapon.

"I am happy that the boy is getting training, but I am not happy with who is giving it" he said. Sarutobi raised his eyebrow at this.

"Who would you have wanted to train Naruto?" he asked Danzou even though he pretty much knew the answer.

"Me" Danzou said simply. "I would have raised him and trained him properly" he said. "The way a shinobi should be raised, not like the way you train them" he said.

Sarutobi stood up, clearly angry, Danzou took a step back.

"Don't think that I don't know what you would have done to him, it would have been just like all the other Ninjas in your ROOT" he said, practically spitting out every word.

"Hiruzen" Danzou said. "Your method-"

"Was Tobirama sensei's method" Sarutobi said. "Don't tell me that you are that willing to disobey your own sensei" he said.

"Well, I want the good of the village Hiruzen, just like you. But I think my way is better" he said, before turning around and walking away.

Sarutobi sighed, this was a perfect way to end what was already a really bad day. The fates were against him today.

-x-

Naruto and Jiraiya had already reached the Wave Country four hours by taking flight, much to Jiraiya's delight.

However much to Jiraiya's chagrin, there was also no bathhouse, because of the poor economic conditions of the country, even the Lord of Wave Country was practically a pauper.

The problem was thanks to the precarious position of the country, the country used to be prosperous thanks to the number of ports they had, however, much recently, a shipping magnate called Gato had taken over the one remaining port of wave country and thus shut out the whole place, this lead to all prices shooting up and poverty becoming commonplace, also all bathhouses were stopped as people did not have money to spend in them. Many women had been forced into prostitution thanks to the poor economic conditions, however Jiraiya assured himself that he would not stay too long, he was leaving as soon as he got a ship that could take Naruto and him to the Whirlpool.

They were staying in a beaten up rest house that was far more expensive than Konoha would have but it would have to suffice.

Naruto had just returned from taking a walk around the village and he was not looking very happy.

"Man, I thought my life was hard, these orphans really have it bad here" Naruto said, wiping his forehead before taking a sip of what he thought was water before he spit it out.

"Aaargh, what the hell is this?" he asked thrusting the bottle in Jiraiya's direction, causing the white haired man to laugh.

"That is Sake, you are too young to understand the good things in life boy" Jiraiya said smiling. Naruto scowled.

"Yeah right, well these orphans don't understand the good things in life either" he said seriously.

"The economic situation in this country is not very good Naruto, but there isn't much you can do about it, at least not now" he said, Naruto nodded.

''I wish I could do something you know, to ease the pain" Naruto said. Jiraiya nodded.

"I felt the same way too Naruto, but there are something's that a person can never ever change, you have to give them time, you know, they sort themselves out eventually" he said.

"I guess you are right Pervy Sage" he said, causing Jiraiya to hang his head down.

"I told you to not call me that" he said, but Naruto shook his head.

"Never gonna stop calling you what you are Pervy Sage" he said again, this time stressing on the words Pervy and Sage. Jiraiya decided he needed to drop this topic.

"Okay brat, we have to move now, let's get to the port" he said. Naruto nodded before beginning to seal everything they had unpacked.

Soon they were on their way to the port, Naruto looked around the city, the poverty in this area was rampant, and there was almost nothing he could do about it. He still thought back to his own life, and he could sympathize with these people, they had gone through what he had gone through, except there wasn't an entire village that was after the lives of any of these orphans, while Naruto was ostracized because he contained something that reminded the village of all the destruction and death that had been caused due to it.

'At least no one here has to be accused of being a demon' he thought as he saw a boy and a girl fighting over a rice cake. Naruto's heart sunk as the boy decided to break the ball in half and give it to the girl. At least they knew the importance of sharing something, he wished someone had done that for him when he was struggling. Maybe someone could have helped him out whenever he was troubled by anything. But he wasn't that lucky.

Soon they reached one of the small docks, there they saw a tall man and another old man who was bespectacled and looked and smelt drunk.

"I am looking for a boat that can take us to the Whirlpool that is not too far away from here" Jiraiya said looking at the two men.

The taller man stepped forward and spoke up. "I am sorry, but I do not row, I am a farmer and my father is a bridge builder, however I have a friend who can take you there" he said in an apologetic tune.

"That's alright, I don't mind at all" Jiraiya said. The taller man began walking towards one of the other boats on the dock when the drunken spectacled man stopped him.

"Kaiza, for all we know these could be Gato's men" he said. "Why should we help them"

The man named Kaiza shook his head. 'Father, looks like you have had too much to drink, Tsunami will be unhappy again" he said.

The old man shook his head and moved away, grumbling as he did so.

Kaiza came back five minutes later with a man in the hat, "This man here is good, he will take you to your destination, but be careful, do not venture in the whirlpool, many people have died trying to go there, there is an island near the whirlpool which is the only safe place" he said.

The rower stepped forward and shook Jiraiya's hand, "It will be a pleasure to take you there" he said. Jiraiya nodded.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you wanna go there anyway?" Kaiza asked Jiraiya.

"I am sorry but that is confidential" he said. Kaiza nodded.

'Very well, I wish you a happy journey" he said.

Jiraiya nodded, and bowed, so did Naruto. Soon they were on the way there.

"You know, pervy sage, maybe we could have flown there, this boat thing wouldn't have been necessary" Naruto said.

"Naruto, it would be impossible flying there, because of the mist that surrounds the place" Jiraiya said.

"Mist, was that done for some additional protection" he asked Jiraiya who merely nodded.

'Yes, your clansmen were very clever" he said.

'Of course they were" Naruto said smiling.

Three hours later they found themselves close to a giant whirlpool, there was an island that was just on the edge of the vortex and the rower had to make a complex turn to land them there, he then left after Jiraiya paid him more than what was necessary. Now Naruto and Jiraiya found themselves on the island that was not too wide.

'Naruto use your blood will you" he said. Naruto nodded before biting his thumb and spilling some of his blood on the ground. The effect was immediate. The whirlpool stopped and was replaced with a bright light.

"Space time barrier ninjutsu, Uzumaki clan accomplished stuff like this thanks to a seal, only the members of the village could access it, and since you are a blood relative, you can too" Jiraiya said.

They stepped through the white bright light and found themselves in another place altogether. The village of Uzushi.

"Welcome to your home village kid" Jiraiya said, smiling at the look on Naruto's face.

The place was beautiful, it was built on a water body and houses and buildings were on small islands, much like the one that Naruto and Jiraiya had stood on, however the islands were connected by planks of wood that were tied together to make a bridge of sorts, crude but effective. There were fortification seals on the planks, thus maintaining the sturdiness of the whole bridge.

"This is amazing" Naruto said in an awestruck tone, causing Jiraiya to laugh at him.

"It is, isn't it, now let us go to the place where the Leader of the clan lived" Jiraiya said as they began walking towards a huge house that could be spotted even amongst all the buildings.

The buildings themselves were largely not damaged however they had the feel of a place that had been abandoned for a long time. That was obvious, no one had lived there for a long, long time.

As they came in front of the large house, they noticed that there was another requirement of blood, Naruto obliged again and the gates opened, revealing a huge house.

"Naruto, I have to stop now" Jiraiya said. Naruto looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face.

"This place might be booby trapped and only Uzumaki can be safe navigating this place, I think you should go on your own" he said. Naruto nodded before leaving.

Naruto explored the whole place and there was not much of note, except that he really liked the way the place was designed, however he found a diary in one of the rooms and flipped open a page.

'_I just got news that my daughter has found herself a lover, and I am extremely happy today. It is a person who is worthy of being an Uzumaki, after all he is known as the Yellow Flash for a reason. The war has taken a toll on us and we have lost so much that I don't think we will make it through this. I hope she can forgive me, I don't even have the time to write these days and she seems really worried about me too. I hope they have a kid, I will leave all I have to him/her'_

Naruto looked at the cover of the diary, many pages were missing, the cover read 'Diary Of Clan Leader' He turned more pages and looked back at another entry.

'_Today I had to send Kushina away, the saddest day of my life, I wonder if I will see her face to face again, I promised that I would send some letters but I can never ever see my daughter again. I hope Mito- sama takes care of her'_

Naruto smiled, so the clan leader was his grandfather, which made him the pseudo leader of the clan that had one person in it.

He flipped more pages till he found a letter that fell to the ground, along with it he also found a key, he opened and he read the letter.

_Dear Grandchild_

_This Is for the future as I am not sure if I even get to have a grandchild, however I know what the blood of your father and mother is like and I can predict what your blood will be like. I want to entrust to you my sword, I call it The Butterfly, however, it doesn't really have a name. This sword (which you will find in the vault behind the room which can be opened only with the key and a blood donation) is called so thanks to it being so light, it is strong but it feels like you are holding thin air. This is thanks to all the seals that have been used in the making of this blade. You can also channel elemental Chakra through it. I don't know if you will ever locate this blade, but I want to make sure that if you don't, no one does_

_Love,  
Your Grandfather_

Naruto wiped a tear away from his eyes, the letter was short but it made sense and was all that was needed. He found the vault behind the room and opened the lock, then made a blood donation.

The door opened and there it was, the sword in all its glory. It had a greenish hue and the hilt was golden while the blade was long. Naruto reached out and held the blade in his hand, however he was surprised to see what happened next.

Naruto found himself in a dark room. He stared as a giant dragon stared at him.

'_Uzumaki Naruto' _the dragon said to him. _'You seem to be of a pure heart, let us see if you can prove it to me'_

Naruto nodded. His grandfather hadn't said anything about a test, this was news to him. However he expected there to be one.

'_I don't understand you Uzumaki Naruto, why would you stay in the village that shunned you for what you hold inside you, why would you do that'_ the dragon asked him.

"Because it's my job" Naruto said, making it sound really simple.

'_Job? What job?'_

"My father sealed the fox in me because he trusted me to wield his power, once the villagers realize that I can safely control the power that I have been blessed with, they will come around, till then I will strive to prove myself to the world" Naruto said with a determined look on his face.

'_Nice answer, nothing less from the great Uzumaki, fine, I shall entrust myself to you, I know you know what I can do, I sense that you read the letter' _the dragon said.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked the dragon who smiled.

'_The personification of the sword in your hand, as you can see, I take the appearance of a dragon, Naruto-sama, now it's time to return to the ordinary plane'_ it said.

Naruto found himself back in familiar surroundings. However he realized that he could hold the sword and he waved it around, it felt really light, it was like he was moving air with his hands. He decided to channel some Chakra through it. He tried wind first and realized that the sword was elongated. He yelped in delight, he had a really useful weapon. And also a very cool one.

"The sword of the Butterfly huh?" he wondered out loud.

'_Actually, I like being called something cooler, like the Dragon Wrath' _came the sound from the sword.

"What the hell, even the sword can talk?" Naruto asked looking at the sword.

'_It's called sentience, look it up in the dictionary brat'_

"I know what sentience is" Naruto scoffed, to which the sword let out a small _'Shocking' _which pissed off Naruto.

"I had to pick up a sentient sword didn't I" he said, furious with himself.

'_Actually, it's good to have a sword to talk to, it can teach you Kenjutsu and other techniques, and also, no one can ever take the sword away from you till you are alive, I see to people like that, only you may carry it, and if you have given permission to someone else, that person may also carry it, however only you may use me in battle'_ the sword said.

"Only I can hear you right?" Naruto asked it, the sword would have face palmed if it was possible.

"So, Sword, tell me about my grandpa" Naruto said.

'_Are you going to call me Sword?" _The Sword asked Naruto, who nodded.

"_That name is cooler than butterfly, although I have to question the sanity of a person who decides to name a sword that personifies Dragons 'Sword', but anyway I am going off topic, your grandfather was Takeshi Uzumaki, who was also nicknamed The Timekeeper, as he was one of the few people to have designed a seal that could alter space time, although he had pathetic control over it. He gave birth to Kushina Uzumaki, who was chosen to be the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, just like you" _the sword said.

Naruto nodded, "I wasn't chosen to be Jinchuriki though, my dad had to seal it in me" he said.

'_Why?'_

"No idea, he was forced to do it, that is for sure. Someone had wrenched the control of Kyuubi and no one knows who, apparently that secret died with my mom, and my mom as you can tell is dead" he said. "So I will never ever know who did it" he said.

'_Well, that is too bad, I presume that you will try finding out' _the dragon said, which made Naruto laugh.

"What would my grandpa have done?" he asked the sword.

'_Uzumaki are brave and noble hearted people, I think any Uzumaki would have wanted to find out who it was, however before we do that, there are some things your grandfather had told me to do' _the sword said.

"What?"

'_Your inheritance Naruto-sama, you have a lot of it, I think you deserve it, plus there are some books on sealing, your grandfather knew that you would have a natural affinity to sealing, and there are some really complex ones in the vault, all of which belong to you'_the sword said.

"Lead the way Sword" Naruto said.

'_Okay, although Naruto-sama, maybe you shouldn't talk out loud, you have to think of me to communicate with me, otherwise people will think you have gone cuckoo'_ the Sword said.

"Alright, I guess, but stop calling me Naruto-sama, it's weird. Just call me what I am, Naruto"

'_Very well'_ the sword said.

-x-

Naruto opened his mouth. So did Jiraiya, except Jiraiya's mouth was much, much wider than Naruto's.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Jiraiya shouted.

Naruto was stunned speechless.

It was an hour after Naruto had taken over his Sword, and it had lead him to the vault with all the seals, there he also found a way to deactivate all the booby traps in the house, which he did, and promptly called his godfather to check up on him too. They had followed the Sword to a vault, behind which was heaps and heaps of money, gold coins and expensive looking gems, it was also the reason for Jiraiya's open mouth.

"The hell man, how can you be so lucky?" Jiraiya asked Naruto, who was puzzled himself.

"Man, I will have to write a new Icha Icha every month to make that kind of money in a lifetime, this is too much" he continued.

Naruto sighed, his Godfather's comical reaction wasn't enough to amuse him.

'Grandpa had this place connected with a seal" he said, looking at one of the scrolls. "He used that seal to withdraw money from this place for the welfare of the village, he says it is a form of Space Time ninjutsu and it can be used only by me from anywhere, so we don't need to transport this money" Naruto finished.

Jiraiya still had an open mouth.

"I think you have everything we need brat, we should get going" he said.

Naruto nodded, this had been really eventful. Hopefully he wouldn't go insane with all the changes that had been taking place in his life, he had lived like a pauper till now, and all of a sudden he is richer than the Fire Damiyo himself.

Naruto sighed, for now it was back to training.

**I could have gone on, but I had to end it here, thanks to my less than stellar health. Now here are somethings you should know.**

**Tazuna made an appearance, finally, but it doesn't mean anything for now, this was merely a foreshadowing for a minor event in the future, can you guess?**

**And now, here is the profile for the Sword itself.**

**Sword Of The Butterfly:**

**A Legendary Blade forged by the Dragons themselves, and enchanted with runes that allow it to channel Chakra and also render it light as air, thus giving the user increased mobility. The Sword is Also Sentient and aligns itself with the pure hearted, it is the personification of Void, the fastest Dragon to have existed. Wielders of this sword are known to be lightening quick with it.**

**That is it, now is my extremely lengthy Author's note rant.**

**1. Poll closes in another three chapters, now don't get me wrong, I LOVE HINATA and I LOVE NARUHINA, but don't you think it's a little too boring now to have A NaruHina pairing, I mean I will write it if she wins the poll but I request readers to consider voting for something unorthodox and challenging.**

**2. The Sword has a crappy name, first off, I will give a shout out to the reader who can tell me where the name 'Butterfly' comes from, (Hint: it's a videogame), I want you readers to come up with a name, next chapter I will write in a situation where Naruto will name the Sword something other than Sword, that is up to you, I suck at names.**

**3. I have plans for the Sword (insert name here) to have a rivalry with the Sameheda, thus the sentience.**

**4. I may have played too much with the Uzumaki clan stuff but come on, its fanfiction, don't be so hard on me guys.**

**5. Review, you see, I might sound like I am begging for reviews, but seeing reviews gives the Author a huge boost in confidence, I am not saying it should be all praise, even negatives should be pointed out, so the author can improve, so please take some time to review**

**6. Tell me if there is something you like to see, suggest new Jutsus that you want to see used in the story, and I will do so and give you credit where it is due.**

**7. Keep reading, and stay safe.**

**Later.**

***Its A Minecraft Reference, God I love that game**


	4. Graduation

**Chapter Four is here, I hope you have fun reading.**

**NARUTO IS THE PROPERTY OF MASASHI KISHIMOTO, PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE- _David Bowie_**

**Also, Y U No release Naruto Chapter 590, Edo Tensei was released right, I wanna know what happens next.**

**Note at bottom.**

Naruto returned alongside Jiraiya and his sword two days later, Sarutobi was surprised that it had only taken them that long to recover what they could from the Uzumaki clan, however he was even more surprised when Jiraiya told him about Naruto's Animal Path.

"So you are telling me that Naruto does not need a contract to summon animals?" Sarutobi asked Jiraiya, who nodded.

"Yes, its one of the powers of those eyes of his, I wonder what else can they do" he said thoughtfully.

Sarutobi sighed, Naruto was already progressing nicely, at this rate, he would become stronger than Sarutobi himself in no time, and he had to so that he could fulfill his dream of becoming Hokage. Sarutobi had always wanted Naruto to be Hokage, maybe not the Godaime Hokage as he felt that Naruto was too young to be his own successor, but maybe the Rokudaime Hokage was not an outlandish idea. This was because of Naruto's rich heritage, he was related to all the previous Hokages including himself in some way or the other, even if the idea of fate was absolute garbage, Naruto was fated to be great.

"What should we do about his training?" Jiraiya asked Sarutobi who smiled.

Of course Jiraiya would want to train, after all, he was a genius of hard work, and this was something Sarutobi was proud of, maybe he had realized since Orochimaru's defection that his favorite student was close to him and would never ever leave.

"Well, what do you suggest Jiraiya-kun?" he asked Jiraiya.

"A training trip, let me take him with me, I can teach him loads of Jutsus, make him your level, I know he can, thanks to those eyes and his hardwork, he comes back to the village and then we integrate him in the Ninja Corps" he said.

Sarutobi nodded. "Good idea, but-" he paused.

Jiraiya looked at him with curiosity,"But what?"

"I want Naruto to grow up around kids his age, I know that you will make him better, but you can leave your instructions in a sword too right? I want him to grow up here" he said.

"Have you gone senile old man?" Jiraiya asked Sarutobi. "You want him to stay here after all this time, after all the beatings he has taken from some of those drunk villagers? You still want to keep him?" Jiraiya asked him.

"Jiraiya-kun, try to understand, he needs to know friendship, and while I understand that you are already quite attached to the kid as he is to you, I don't think you are the kind of person Naruto needs" Sarutobi said.

"Friends, what friends?" Jiraiya said. "The parents tell kids to stay away from the _demon brat_" he said, spitting out the last two words. Sarutobi sighed again.

"Listen Jiraiya, I want you to train him, but not outside the village, I want you to train him in here, is that clear?" he asked Jiraiya , who scowled and eventually nodded.

"My reasons are a little selfish too Jiraiya-kun, after all he is like a grandchild, how can I just send him off on a training trip with a pervert and not expect him to come back a total peeping tom?" he asked trying to lighten the mood.

It worked.

"That brat will never be as good as me, I am a super pervert, he is nobody" Jiraiya scoffed.

"I think you should stick to the original schedule, 2 months after Naruto's first Chunin exams" Sarutobi said.

"By then the brat won't need a trip" Jiraiya said before waving his hands and leaving out of the window.

'Windows suck' Sarutobi thought before returning back to the bowels of infernal hell that was his paper work.

-x-

Naruto resumed training soon after returning, his Godfather had taken his leave and run off to do some 'research' for his next book, or whatever the hell that was. He had left Naruto with scrolls full of Jutsu and it hadn't taken him long to master all of them. He found great satisfaction in having learnt some of the techniques that were on there, however the one thing he remembered was his fight with the old man Hokage himself.

**Flashback**

It was almost night, and Jiraiya had just left the village two days ago, Naruto was training and had mastered most of the Jutsu while the Sword had also taught him (or at least instructed him without any possible way of demonstration) on how to channel Chakra and hold a sword, however just then he was visited by the old man.

"Ah, Naruto, how is your training?" he asked him.

"Excellent old man, I think I can beat you" he said smiling. Sarutobi 'oohed'.

"Really, well, do you want to spar, Ninjutsu and Taijutsu only, I am afraid I cannot really keep up with Kenjutsu anymore, I am too old, plus you don't look like you can still properly use that sword" he said.

"Alright, let us begin"

And thus it began, for Naruto he had to prove that he was now talented, he just had to beat the Hokage. He charged towards the Hokage and began laying in some punches and kicks, all of which were blocked. The old man moved on pure instinct and yet he was blocking everything, how the hell was this even possible.

"Naruto-kun" he said as he blocked a palm aimed at his heart. "Instinct gets better with age, when you grow up to be my age, you will know what I mean" he said, before laying in a fist of his own, which Naruto blocked, however he stumbled which allowed Sarutobi to lay a flurry of kicks on him. Naruto blocked all but one, which pushed him back. Naruto flipped and landed on his two feet.

'Nice' he thought as he began hand seals.

**"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire"** Naruto called out before blowing multiple projectiles of fire towards the old man, who made some hand seals of his own.

**"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet"** he said as he himself shot out some projectiles of water from his mouth which neutralized the fire.

"I see you took fewer hand seals than most, that is good control Naruto-kun" he said, making Naruto smile.

"Well, that's not the only thing I have which is good" he said as he formed Shadow clones, about 50 of them.

"Lets see you dodge all 50 of them on instinct old man" he said with a smug look on his face as he charged, but to his chagrin, Sarutobi just stood there before

**"Fire Style: Flame Flower"** the old man then jumped and spewed some fiery meteorite from his mouth that landed among the clones, effectively wiping out all but three of them.

'Great' Naruto thought, 'I will have to bring out the big guns now'

"Naruto-kun" the old man said, he had already gone through hand seals in the time that Naruto had wasted thinking about taking this to the next level. "Never ever ponder in the middle of battle, you are too young to do that" he finished.

**"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fireballs"** the old man said as he launched really devastating looking Fireballs in Naruto's direction, Naruto froze up for a second before-

**"God damn kit, just get your head in the game will you"** it was the fox to save the day. Naruto realized that he had one way of defending.

**"Crystal Style: Crystal Dome" **he called out as he was surrounded in a dome pf crystal, the fireballs hit however they could not do much to the barrier. Naruto smiled. He had won, now all he had to do was-

**"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapacitation"**

The old man had somehow emerged from underneath the ground in the dome and had stuck Naruto in the ground, who had only his head sticking out.

"Not bad at all Naruto" he said smiling. "Although you are a bit green, I can tell that in a few years you can defeat me without breaking a sweat.

The dome receded, as Naruto smiled. "Who said I haven't beaten you now old man?" he asked him as the Naruto stuck in the ground poofed.

'Shadow Clone' Saruobi thought as another Naruto emerged from the bushes.

"This is it, my instant kill Jutsu" he said. Sarutobi's eyes widened. It took only one handseal, what kind of control did Naruto have over this jutsu, what was he going to use.

"Orike no Jutsu" Naruto called out as he transformed into a naked girl with smoke covering only the barest of her parts. Sarutobi was knocked out thanks to a nose bleed.

'I win, and you are a perv' Naruto thought.

**End Flashback.**

Even though Naruto had technically knocked out the Hokage, he had lost, plain and simple, any other opponent would have blown him away and he knew it, and all the power he had would be useless as long as he did not have a brain to go alongside with it so that he could use that power properly, so he decided that he would learn and practice being a tactician, even though it was something that would take ages, he decided to speeden up the process by playing tactical games such as Shogi and Go, and there was one person that was willing to play with him.

Shikamaru Nara was the heir of the Nara clan, and even though he was the laziest person in the class, it did not take too much scoping to realize that underneath that was a highly proficient brain that could think up strategies effortlessly, Naruto ound himself asking Shikamaru for more games of Shogi as the days passed and thus he formed a friendship with both Chouji (over their competition of eating more Ramen) and Shikamaru, soon they became as close to bosom buddies as possible.

The two were also close to him in a way because their parents did not discourage them from hanging out with him, they were really cool about it and this was something Naruto did not understand, he had thought that he would have to earn the admiration of each and every person in the village but that was not the case, some people admired him for being as brave as he had been, and that's when Naruto came to a realization that the Shinobi families did not particularly mistreat Naruto, they treated him like a normal human being with feelings and Naruto was gratified that they would do that.

Four months had passed since Naruto had battled the Hokage and even though he had fought him to the best of the abilities, he had been curb stomped, and Naruto was itching to get another shot, however the Hokage was now busy with what was the Chunin Exams and did not have any time for Naruto to spare, which made Naruto really angry as he was getting bored.

He had finally picked up on Elemental Manipulation and had mastered the Fire Element, or atleast attained moderate competence in it, he would practice daily just in case. He also found a scroll on the Scorch Release (Fire and Wind) combination and the Boil Release (Fire And Water) which Naruto found extremely useful as it produced highly corrosive liquid that he knew would come in handy. He had also taken up Lava Release and was getting better with it.

However Naruto found that having to pretend to be a loser in the academy was taking a toll on him, it was unlike him to actually stay hidden as he was a show off by nature, however the stupid fox had forced him to keep his identity a secret and that bothered Naruto, a lot. To his credit, at least now he could think about the cool Uzumaki sealing techniques that he was learning at nights when he couldn't practice. He had set up an intruder seal that blew up in the intruders face in the apartment and marked the intruder with a special dye that could not be taken off and thus the intruder would be subject to humiliation.

He got by the academy by simply pretending to sleep or actually sleeping without ever giving a damn as to what the teachers had to say to him, he found that this method had worked in the best way. He also became friends with Hinata Hyuuga who had a really bad stammering problem, at least Naruto thought he did because she could never ever speak to him without that infernal stammer. He was also friends with Kiba Inuzuka who was along with Chouji and Shikamaru and Hinata one of the few people whose parents did not tell them to stay away from him.

Naruto smiled, he was training to be the greatest ever and with any luck, he would get there.

The sword also instructed him whenever possible, however Naruto did most of his training from the scrolls that had been provided to him by Hayate Gekko, who along with his girlfriend Yugao Uzuki was one of the few ANBU assigned to protect Naruto when he was young. Hayate had become some sort of a sparring partner and Naruto loved it, he loved training with Hayate and Yugao helped out from time to time, very soon Naruto made a name for himself, at least among the ANBU of the village who really liked the kid and being Shinobi were able to understand where he came from, however very soon he was going to change the opinion of some of the civilians too.

On Naruto's 8th birthday, the villagers looking for him had significantly lessened, some because they knew that the ANBU had taken an interest in the boy, some others because they thought that now that his pranking had been dialed down, the influence of the demon fox had worn thin and the boy was fighting and some others because of the rumor that had been spread not many days ago.

Tsuneo Hattori was one of the richest merchants of Konoha and his daughter Ayumi was the apple of his eye, but while travelling with her father and on their way to the capital of Fire Country, they were attacked by bandits and Ayumi was taken. Naruto who had been authorized by the Hokage to take on some small C Rank missions for real world experience was the one who single handedly wiped out the bandit camp and rescued a traumatized but otherwise unharmed Ayumi.

At first Tsuneo, who had been one of the most stringent haters of Naruto couldn't believe his ears that Naruto had rescued his daughter, however the Hokage had sworn him into secrecy and told him that the details of the rescuer of his daughter were to be kept quiet until the Hokage himself said so. Tsuneo was happy at first as that would mean the demon-brat wouldn't be credited for his achievements, however when he heard his daughter Ayumi speak so highly of her rescuer, he decided to see what she was talking about and visited him himself.

He looked at Naruto's run down apartment and scoffed, he couldn't believe that someone could live like this, but why would he? After all, he was born rich.

"Ah, Hattori-san" Naruto said opening the door he had knocked, "How can I help you?"

"I want to talk to you, can I come inside?" Hattori asked Naruto who shook his head.

"Sorry, Busy, lets just talk here, I am sure you couldn't have much to say, you wouldn't wanna waste time with the likes of me I am sure" he said. Hattori could detect a tinge of cynicism in his voice.

"I would like to know why you saved my daughter, you knew that she is mine and I am one of your most vocal haters, why would you save her, and how did you get so strong?" he asked Naruto, who smiled.

"Simple, your daughter is innocent, so why would I hold a grudge, and what kind of a person would I be if I let an innocent girl die just because I did not like her father, and even if it was you, I would have saved you, cause while I might not like you, I know that your business is important for the welfare of this village, and you are a member of the village yourself, so it is my duty as one of its protectors to save its members" he said simply.

Hattori left soon after, however he had a lot to think about, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that if there really was demonic influence on the boy, he would have found his daughter dead, after all, what kind of a demon would be so kind. Hattori then visited the Hokage himself and asked him how much the seal influences Naruto, and the Hokage told him that the seal was a work of art, one of Yondaime's greatest creations, it wouldn't just malfunction like that.

Hattori had changed since then, he had become more tolerable of Naruto, he even let Ayumi visit him from time to time, and he also stopped some of the villagers from talking about him in a bad way, he also stated selling Naruto items at their ordinary price in his establishments, soon some of the villagers came round to the fact that maybe Naruto Uzumaki was not really the demon they hated, maybe he just protected them from the demon.

Hattori never told Naruto any of this, it was just one of the things that happened with time, and the people who did notice it were sure that in time, Naruto would change the opinion of every person, because he was that kind of a guy.

The next few years passed in a flash, Naruto was allowed to do some more missions sparingly, they were all low risk. Naruto was also trained by Kakashi Hatake, a student of his father who was the ANBU captain till he retired to become a Jounin sensei. This training was secretive, Naruto was also trained by Anko, who saw herself in him in the art of interrogation.

Naruto was as strong as any of the elite Jounin at least by the time academy graduation exams approached, although he was forced to maintain the facade of being dead last. Naruto also became close to Iruka Umino, who he considered like a brother. Naruto was also responsible for Iruka and Anko going out as he had introduced them to each other, and through him they had become close. Naruto smiled as he thought about the day Anko first met Iruka. His life was good.

**Academy Graduation Exam Day,**

**Naruto is aged 13 **

Naruto sighed, these academy exams were too easy, a stupid written test and a clone Jutsu and he was through, of course he had to just pass the written test although he did well on the clone Jutsu, and he managed passing, however he sighed as he looked at the list, he was at the bottom. Dead Last.

'Great, they will never let me live this down in the future' he thought, sweating as he looked at the list. Sakura was kunoichi of the year, thanks to her perfect written scores, Hinata and Ino were tied second. Naruto was happy for Hinata, although he could care less about Sakura and Ino. Shikamaru was just above him, and Chouji and Kiba were not too far off. Shino was the second best in class.

'Good for him' Naruto thought.

"Hey Naruto" a voice called out to him, it was Mizuki, the one teacher who Naruto was sure was trying to sabotage him in the exams. Mizuki had never liked Naruto and try as he may to actually do something, Naruto was smart enough to escape each and every time, however now that he had passed and was no longer going to be under the eyes of Mizuki, he wondered what could Mizuki probably have to say to him.

"I know you feel sorry that you are dead last, but I know of some secret test Naruto" he said to him, Naruto raised his eyebrows, what kind of test was the bastard talking about?

"It will promote you directly to Chunin, and its only given to the dead last to test whether he could prove himself to the Hokage himself" he said.

Naruto was puzzled, was Mizuki expecting him to believe this? He decided he would play along. "Really?" he asked slipping into his enthusiastic voice mask as he began jumping up and down like a retarded monkey. He was probably overdoing it.

**Later that Night**

'At least I get to sneak past the Hokage this time' Naruto thought. So Mizuki wanted the forbidden scroll of sealing and learn a Jutsu from it. Naruto decided to tell someone until the chance to learn a Jutsu from the scroll came up. He couldn't pass on it, he knew he could take care of it, so he decided that the Hokage would find out.

Currently he was hiding in the office, trying as hard as possible to stay hidden, Rinnegan allowed him to mask his chakra in a way that only the best of sensors could detect him. 'Now, time for my revenge' he thought.

Over the last few years, the Hokage had defeated him in each and every spar they had ever had, much to Naruto's chagrin, however he knew that this was all important and that the man was very very experienced, however in the last few months they hadn't had any spars.

"GOTCHA" he shouted, causing The Hokage, who had just entered the room and taken a seat to jump from his chair and turn in his direction in his stance.

"NARUTO, you scared me" Sarutobi said, before sighing and sitting back in the chair. "What the hell was that for?"

Naruto laughed. "This was for all the times you outsmarted me old man, to show you that I could sneak up on you" he said. "I can't lose to old geezers like you" he said.

Sarutobi sighed. "I am known as God Of Shinobi you know, its for a reason, I won't just die that easily" he said, Naruto nodded.

"Yeah you will, its Orike no Jutsu easy" he said, causing Sarutobi to sweat.

"That Jutsu is dangerous" he said, "I am thinking of putting it in the forbidden scroll of sealing" he said.

"Speaking of that, Mizuki-teme says there is a test for the dead lasts in the academy, to steal the scroll of sealing and master a Jutsu from it and earn promotion to Chunin, I know its bullshit, but tell me, is it true?" he asked the old man.

"Tch Naruto, where did you get that foul mouth?" the old man asked him, "And no, its not. I think Mizuki is a traitor, it is feasible, why don't you go ahead with it and do what he says, I am sure you will be able to apprehend him" he said.

Naruto nodded. "Old man, make sure you let Mizuki know that I have taken the scroll" he said. Sarutobi nodded before giving him the scroll.

"Naruto, be careful with that scroll, I know you are going to learn something for yourself, I advice you to think carefully before you do that, there are Jutsu on there that are really dangerous" he said. Naruto nodded.

"Understood, I'm heading out" he said before leaving, through the window.

'Oh god damn it' Sarutobi sighed as he looked at the window.

-x-

"Okay, lets see, there is so much I can pick up from this, thank god I have a spare scroll" he said, before forming a clone that began diligently copying all the Jutsu in a scroll that Naruto would keep for himself.

"What the hell is this?" Naruto thought looking at one of the techniques. **Wood Style: Sanctuary Enlightenment Enclosing Palm**, what is this thing?"

**"That kit is what Hashirama used to control the tailed beasts, I think it will be useful if you learn it"** the voice of the fox boomed.

'You are right, I think I should learn this, thanks Kurama' he said to the fox, 'What else is on here?' he thought looking at the scroll some more, the clone had finished copying the scroll by now and had dispersed, while Naruto had stashed the scroll in his storage seal.

He looked at one of the Genjutsu there, **Illusion Technique: Infinite Darkness**, 'Kurama, isn't that Tobirama Senju's technique' he asked the fox, who agreed.

"Hm, this seems easy, maybe I will learn this first" he thought to himself.

Two hours had gone since Naruto had begun practicing the genjutsu and thanks to his clones and the Rinnegan's perfect Chakra control, he had managed to learn it, it hadn't taken him too long to get the hang of it.

"NA-RU-TO" that voice was unmistakable, it was Iruka's. Naruto gulped, the man sounded pissed.

'Naruto" Iruka said, finally coming into vision, "Why did you steal the scroll Naruto?" he asked him, his voice sounded like he was hurt.

"Iruka sensei, Mizuki Sensei told me to, he said that if I learn a Jutsu from this, I will be promoted to Chunin" Naruto said, doing his best innocent man impression, which caused Iruka's eyes to widen, so he realized what was up. Interesting.

"Naruto, return the scroll now" Iruka said to him, however Naruto decided to stick his tongue out. "Naruto" Iruka said, the agitation in his voice shooting up. "GIVE ME THE SCRO-" Iruka couldn't finish as a Kunai hit him, straight in the heart.

Time stopped as Naruto turned around to see that it was Mizuki who had done it, meanwhile Iruka hit the ground, he was dead.

-x-

Sarutobi was shocked, he had been seeing it all in his crystal ball, he couldn't believe what had happened, he was worried that this would make the fox come out. He decided that the situation called for a personal visit.

-x-

**"Naruto"** the fox said. **"Don't lose control, calm down"**

Naruto was working on pure instinct though, it was as though Naruto was being told by someone about what to do.

"Naruto, or should I tell you what you really are?" Mizuki asked him, Naruto's eyes turned red with tomoe, the Rinnegan had been activated. Mizuki seemed to take a step back when that happened.

"I will deal with you personally" Naruto said, slowly and menacingly, which took Mizuki by surprise, however Mizuki recovered.

"Oh sure, a dead last loser like you will take care of me, a Chunin, I believe you alright" he said mockingly, however Naruto had already activated the Hand seals.

**"Illusion Technique: Infinite Darkness"** he said, as Mizuki's eyes rolled, before he was surrounded by what Naruto would imagine was complete darkness.

Mizuki began thrashing around trying to break the Genjutsu, however, it seemed to strong for him to break.

Naruto on the other hand was taken over again by something that seemed to control him. "I will save you Iruka Sensei" he said before doing the hand seals.

"Naraka Path" he said as a giant statue that could only be described as demonic came out of nowhere, it had Naruto's special Rinnegan eyes on it.

The statue extended its tongue and took in Iruka.

Green light surrounded the statue as Iruka was taken inside.

**"King Of Hell"** Kyuubi said with fear in its voice. **"How?"**

-x-

Iruka was in the dark.

_I died, I can't believe it. What will I tell Anko when she gets here, she is going to kill me again, and what about Naruto, I had wanted to be there when he would become Hokage, but now that will never happen._

"Iruka" a familiar voice called out to him. Ages seemed to pass as Iruka turned and looked at the source of the voice. His father along with his mother.

"M-mom, D-Dad" Iruka said stammering, "So I am dead" he said.

"Not yet, just in limbo, the Death god will come soon and take you away, however where you will go we do not know" his father said sadly.

Iruka began crying. "I am sorry Iruka, both of us are, for dying on you like that, however I am very proud of you, so is your father for what you have become" his mother said.

Iruka lost it as he began bawling, he couldn't believe what had happened. However just then something seemed to pull him. Green energy.

"Wow" Iruka's father said. "Looks like you have work to do son, I guess you will not join us here yet" he said.

"I am proud of you Iruka-kun" his mother said.

Iruka smiled as he felt the energy pull on him.

-x-

Naruto stared transfixed as the Statue with his eyes pulled Iruka out, before green light enveloped his body.

"Wh-what the hell" Iruka sputtered as he got up, his knife wound was healed. It was unreal.

**"You are more similar to the sage than I thought kit, he was the only one I know that could do this. This technique is called the Samsara Of Heavenly Life" ** the fox said as Naruto watched Iruka get up, before he ran to the teacher and tackled him.

"I thought you had died" he said sobbing as Iruka looked really uncomfortable and slightly choked.

"I am fine now Naruto, I wonder how it happened though" he said to Naruto who was still sobbing. He then turned his eyes on Mizuki who was still thrashing about , seemingly enveloped in darkness.

"What happened to him Naruto?" Mizuki asked him. Naruto turned towards Mizuki and released the Jutsu that had put him in complete darkness.

"Ha, I knew I broke it" Mizuki said triumphantly as he looked at Naruto, before he turned and saw a fully revived Iruka. The expression on Mizuki's face betrayed the complete horror he was feeling, however he was even more horrified at the demonic looking statue that was facing him. The statue stared at Mizuki as something like a serpent shaped tongue emerged from his mouth and connected to the statue.

Naruto walked up to him as Iruka stared at him, dazed with what he was seeing.

"You did not-" Naruto said as he put his hands on Mizuki's throat. "Break it" he finished. "I spared you" he said.

"Have Mercy" Mizuki cried out, however Naruto was in no mood to do anything of that sort.

"Tell me then, why did you want the scroll?" he asked Mizuki.

"I wanted to blame you for its theft while I escaped, I wanted the power for myself so that I could prove myself to Orochimaru-sama" he said.

"I see" Naruto said as the tongue withdrew from the body of Mizuki, who slumped down, looking extremely exhausted. "You have survived judgement" he said simply, "But I don't know if you will survive Ibiki-san's torture" he finished.

"Old man, you can come out now" he said.

"Naruto, what did you do to him and how?" Sandaime asked him coming out of the woods.

Naruto simply pointed out his eyes, Sarutobi was shocked as he saw Iruka alive.

"Iruka, I thought you were-"

"I was Hokage-sama, but Naruto here saved me" he said.

'Naruto, how powerful are those eyes of yours?' Sarutobi thought, awestruck.

"I would have cut the head off this bastard, but I left Sword back home" Naruto said, "You need to get this bastard interrogated man, I have to prepare for my Ninja Orientation that is day after" he said, before Sunshining out of sight.

'Paperwork' Sarutobi thought sighing as Naruto left behind a confused Iruka and an unconscious Mizuki.

-x-

'Ah, Ninja teams' Naruto thought, smiling as he stared at the academy building, it was two days after the Mizuki incident and things were back to normal, except for the fact that Anko had punished Iruka in her own way, for some reason when Iruka was asked by him about it, he turned red like a tomato.

Iruka said something about 'Thank-god-you-are-alive-fun-moment' that Naruto did not understand, to which Iruka told him that he would when has an adult. Naruto asked Yugao about it and she told him that she and Hayate did it every time one of them came back from a Mission that was A Ranked or above, however Naruto was still not sure about what that meant.

Naruto walked into the academy and went straight into the class room and found to nobodies surprise, Shikamaru slumped across his desk.

"Hey, wake up lazy bones" Naruto said walking up to him and smacking him in the head, which made Hinata who was right there giggle.

"Troublesome" Shikamaru said. "Why do you wake me up all the time?"

"Oh come on Shika, its time for the Ninja groupings to be announced" Naruto said as Sakura and Ino came running inside. They were probably eyeing the seat next to Sasuke.

He sighed, 'I don't want either if those fangirls on my team' he thought.

**Five minutes later**

"Team Seven- Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno" Iruka said.

**"WHAT THE HELL?" **Naruto shouted as Shikamaru was jolted awake.

-x-

**Could not go any further, the next chapter will kick off official cannon, we had Naruto discover the Naraka Path, can you guess which Path Naruto discovers next?**

**Hinata was leading the poll however she is being provided stiff competition by a Kunoichi from the cloud, let me remind you to vote as I will pull off the poll after Chapter five is out. About 60 people have done it so far.**

**I couldn't name Naruto's sword as I thought there would be other places to do it. However I did write Naruto to be a darling of the ANBU, which is understandable as they are Ninja and are more capable of seeing underneath the underneath.**

**Also I hope to write better fight scenes in the future, this was just a test run, I hope you like it.**

**Also, I hope you are fine with the Naruto and Hattori incident, there won't be senseless bashing in this fic, so it is obvious that Naruto will change opinions and win over people as he wouldn't be Naruto if he didn't.**

**Keep reading and leave a review, vote on the poll.**

**Later.**


	5. Bell Test

**Hello there, Ninja readers of Ninja fanfiction of Ninja Anime of Ninja Naruto which is a show about Ninjas (apparently).**

**I can't believe I turned in a chapter so quickly but I was inspired, this one is the bell test, Wave Arc starts from next chapter on, there is a situation with adult implications between Iruka and Anko (nothing explicit) that I had to write because it was bugging me so much. Read and review and vote.**

"Team Seven- Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno" Iruka said.

**"WHAT THE HELL?" **Naruto shouted as Shikamaru was jolted awake.

"I don't want her on my team Iruka sensei, change my team please" he said in a voice that indicated his total disbelief of the situation, however Iruka just scowled.

"Naruto, the teams are decided by the Hokage so if you have any problem with the arrangements, go take it up with him" he said to Naruto, meanwhile Sakura was torn between being angry and being happy.

"I am on Sasuke-kun's team, but even Naruto-baka is on it, I don't know whether to laugh or cry" she said. Shikamaru sighed as did Chouji.

"Sorry Naruto" Chouji said eating a packet of chips that always seemed to be in his hand. "I don't envy you being in the team which consists of a brooder and a total fangirl, but hey" he said laughing.

Shikamaru just sighed. "Troublesome, why are we so bothered about the teams anyway?" he asked Naruto who playfully bashed him on the head, causing Shikamaru to glare, no one disturbed his sleep.

"Your sensei" Iruka continued "Is Kakashi Hatake" he finished.

"Alright" Naruto said happily, which made Sakura and Sasuke look at him curiously.

"Inu-san is probably the best teacher we could have gotten, he was the captain of ANBU till two years ago, before he retired and became a Jounin sensei" he explained to them. Sakura seemed indifferent while Sasuke was smirking.

'Yes' Sasuke thought. 'With the guidance of the strongest ANBU in the village, I will gain the power to defeat my brother'

"Team 8" Iruka continued, giving up on all the distractions that were taking place at the moment and simply reading on. "Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. your sensei is Yuhi Kurenai" he finished.

"Do you know about Kurenai too Naruto?" Sasuke asked him, Naruto shook his head.

"She only got recently promoted, so I don't have any info, but what is it to you anyway?" he asked Sasuke who said nothing.

"Team 10" Iruka continued "As Team 9 or Team Guy is still in circulation, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akimichi" he said which lead to a giant and resounding 'WHAT' from one Ino Yamanaka, while Naruto realized that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio was being reformed.

"IRUKA-SENSEI, I DON'T WANNA BE ON A TEAM WITH THE FAT GUY AND THE LAZY GUY" Ino screeched, however before Chouji could react (Shikamaru just sighed and went back to sleep) Naruto stopped him.

"Well, Ino, the guy you call lazy and the guy you call fat are much more competent with their little fingers than you are, so just shut up will you" he said, which stunned Ino, Sakura cheered.

"Whohooo, Ino, the dead last put you in your place what a shame" Sakura said with a smug look on her face.

"You are no better Sakura, actually you are worse than me, or anyone or even Konohamaru, who is an 8 year old kid, even he can beat you in a one on one" he said shrugging.

Sasuke smirked. However Naruto was not finished. "You didn't actually think that Sasuke will go out with you did you? I mean look at him, he wants more power to kill a certain someone, weaklings like you will just slow him down" he said. "Plus you have a really wide forehead so-" he finished before walking away.

"Naruto" Ino called out. "That was uncalled for" she said, however Naruto shrugged his shoulder, he was at the door now while Iruka was watching him with a shocked look on his face, he had thought that Naruto secretly liked Sakura.

"Class" Naruto said, "Your sensei's will pick you up after lunch, Team 7, ours will be three hours late, screw this, I'm leaving" he said as he exited the room.

Iruka took five seconds to recover from that before saying "Like he said class, dismissed"

-x-

"Naruto"

It was at the Ichiraku Ramen Hut and Naruto was midway his fifth bowl of ramen when Sasuke called him, Naruto turned, scowling, he did not like being disturbed while eating Ramen.

"Yeah Sasuke what is it?" Naruto asked him.

"I know you are stronger than you let on" he said. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" he said feigning ignorance.

"I saw you in the training grounds yesterday, tell me, who taught you that **Bansho Ten'in** jutsu, I want to learn it too" he said.

Naruto smirked. "No" he said simply.

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "I am rookie of the year, you are dead last, how can I not learn this strong Jutsu while you can?" he asked Naruto who decided to put him out of his misery.

"Listen Sasuke, you can't learn it, its my bloodline limit" he said, which caused Sasuke's eyes to widen. "You have a clan?" he asked Naruto who nodded.

"Yep, Uzumaki clan from Uzushigakure, they were wiped out some years ago, my mother was the last survivor, we had the Jutsu that attracted everything towards ourselves, so sorry I can't teach you" he said, "No one taught me either, I just know it" he finished.

"Hn" Sasuke said as Naruto pulled out a chair for him, asking him to sit down. Sasuke looked at him before deciding to sit anyway.

"You know, when your family died, I was really happy" he said, which made Sasuke glare at him, and Naruto realized what he had just said. "Oh no not like that, I mean I was sad that the whole clan was wiped out but I was secretly happy that you survived, cause I thought I would have a person who knew the same loneliness I have known all my life" he said.

Sasuke looked at him puzzled. "What do you mean?" he asked Naruto.

"I mean I was always lonely, like you, I was in the orphanage and then I was kicked out, for two days I was on the streets till the old man gave me a place" he said sighing, "So I thought we could be friends or something"

"Then why didn't you say anything then?" he asked Naruto, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I thought the obsession with revenge won't let you have friends" he said simply, to which Sasuke nodded.

"Listen, we have to be cooperative with each other to be a fully functional team" he said to Sasuke, who nodded again in agreement.

"Good, you are smarter than the Banshee, okay, tomorrow we will be given a test, no matter what it is, we have to work as a team, trust me, I know Kakashi, he stresses on the importance of teamwork, so we will work together, understood?" he asked Sasuke, who just nodded.

"Good" Naruto said smiling, "Old man, gimme another bowl" he said enthusiastically.

Sasuke stared at him, this guy was different, if he was as lonely as he said he was, why did he smile so often, why did he not brood much like Sasuke himself did.

"I will have a beef ramen" Sasuke said to Ayame, who smiled and nodded telling him that it would be coming right up.

-x-

"Anko, someone might see us" Iruka said. Anko Mitarashi smirked. "That's what makes it so interesting" she said smiling.

They were in Iruka's office, Iruka was on the desk while Anko was on his lap.

"Do you know how sacred I was?" she asked him. "When I had heard that a Kunai was buried in your chest, I thought they were true, thank god the rumors were not true" she said, twirling her finger across his cheeks. Iruka smiled, they hadn't told Anko that he was brought back to life by Naruto who apparently had a bloodline limit. He shuddered as he thought what Anko would do if she ever found out.

"Anyway" Anko said, "I am glad that you are alive, so I will reward you" she said getting up from his lap and kissing him wildly.

"Anko" Iruka said stammering. "S-stop it, p-please" he said getting worked up. Anko shook her head. Now the desk was facing the door, so all someone peeping through the door could see was Iruka, a really flustered Iruka. That is exactly what Kurenai and Asuma saw as they came into his office, without knocking. Anko went under the desk in a flash, trying to hide.

"Hey Iruka" Asuma Sarutobi said, the resemblance to his father was undeniable, he was the spitting image of his father when he was younger. Kurenai was a beautiful woman with wild hair and red eyes, she was the object of desire of many men in the village, however the object of Iruka's desire was under his desk pleasuring him.

'Crap' Iruka thought to himself.

"Iruka, are you alright" Kurenai asked him, Iruka merely nodded.

"Wait, I sense someone" Asuma said.

At that moment many things happened, Naruto sunshined straight into Iruka's office from the window, while Anko stiffened under the desk which caused Iruka a great deal of pain as he let out a large 'OW'.

"Iruka sensei, what is Anko-chan doing under the table?" Naruto asked him, "I can see her trench coat from here" he said.

'BUSTED' Iruka thought to himself.

"Anko is under the table?" Kurenai asked Asuma who began laughing like a mad man, meanwhile Anko came out from under the table, blushing wildly while Iruka could have sunk, his head was really bowed down. Realization struck upon Kurenai as she began laughing too while Naruto stayed there puzzled. "What the hell man?" he asked them.

There was a moment of silence before everyone in the room except Iruka and Naruto began laughing.

"Screw this, Iruka sensei I wanted to talk to you, I'll do it later" he said as he sunshined again. Kurenai noticed this and asked Asuma if Naruto could do the Sunshin, Asuma nodded.

"Its not what it looks like" Anko said to Asuma.

"Sure it isn't" Asuma said to her, grinning.

-x-

It was three hours since Naruto had found Anko under Iruka's desk, he wondered what the hell was wrong with both of them, but he didn't have much time to speculate as he found himself sitting beside Sasuke and Sakura (who asked him where he was) waiting for Kakashi to show up.

"Where did you go?" Sasuke asked Naruto, who sighed. "Nah, just went to meet Iruka sensei, but he was busy, so I went back home to kill some time, what did you do?"

"Nothing" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke-kun" Sakura said rubbing her fingers together in a manner that Naruto realized infuriated him.

"What?" Sasuke asked her, however Sakura did not say a single word and continued rubbing her fingers, which made Naruto angrier than he already was.

"Will you stop that?" he asked her politely, she nodded and stopped.

"I was wondering if you would go out with me" she said blushing while looking at Sasuke.

"No" Sasuke said. "I don't have time to waste with you, I have to get stronger"

"I will help you Sasuke-kun, with me you can grow stronger" Sakura said pleadingly while Naruto snorted.

"Please" he said, which made Sakura glare at him.

"Naruto-baka, you say that I am weak, but you aren't any strong either, I can easily defeat you you know" she said with confidence. This time Sasuke snorted.

"He knows already not to underestimate me Sakura, but maybe I will take you up on that, now Sasuke did you tell her what you have to do tomorrow?" he asked Sasuke who nodded.

"No way I am working as a team with you Naruto-baka, you come last in every test, how can I take your word, I was number one in written tests, even if there is one tomorrow, I will pass with flying colors and so will Sasuke-kun, you will fail" she said confidently.

"Sakura, you will never make it anywhere, I think you dying on our first mission is good for you, I don't want to see you get humiliated as time wears on" Naruto said, immediately regretting saying that while Sakura was visibly looking shaken.

"W-What do you mean by that?" she asked him, too bothered by what he had said to actually pretend being angry.

"Sorry, but if you think that written skills are important while being a ninja, you will die on our first serious mission, I think you should just give up and become a teacher or something, because people like you are the ones who die first" he said.

Sakura did not speak after that, while Naruto looked guilty for having indirectly wished her death, Sasuke who was watching the whole thing merely had a puzzled expression on his face.

That is when Kakashi Hatake came in. "Team 7?" he called out. The whole room was empty, but the three people nodded anyway.

Kakashi sweatdropped, these guys looked really glum.

"I am sorry I am late" he said, hoping that that was not the reason of their sadness.

"So, Kakashi-sensei, what happened, lost on the road of life?" Naruto asked him. Kakashi smiled, or at least his eyes did.

'I see you have learned somethings from me eh? Naruto' he thought, 'Now all I have to do is give him an orange book to read and corruption will be complete, just wait Jiraiya-sama, the boy will be my image, not yours' Kakashi thought, which brought a weird goofy grin on his face, which did not go unnoticed by the team itself.

"Hey, sensei, stop day dreaming about those pornographic books and do something will ya" Naruto said, Sasuke and Sakura nodded.

'I am losing face here' Kakashi thought sweating.

"My first impression of you guys- hmm, you are all annoying, meet me on the roof" he said before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

"See you guys on the roof" Naruto said, before vanishing in a sparkle of electricity.

'How did he do that?' Sasuke thought.

'That was so cool' Sakura thought.

The two made it to the roof and found Naruto sitting there adjusting his head band. Kakashi was sitting there looking really bored, it looked like the two were having a conversation.

"What do you mean, electricity looks cooler than leaves, I won that one" Naruto said, however Kakashi shook his head.

"Nope, I still think leaves are cooler" he said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sakura asked them, they shook their heads.

"Nothing of importance pinky, now we all introduce ourselves, our likes and dislikes and our dreams for the future" Kakashi said, Sakura was glaring at the pinky remark, while Naruto was smirking.

"You first Inu-sensei" he said. Kakashi let out a small 'hmm' which indicated his displeasure of being called that.

"Okay, I am Kakashi Sensei, I like a lot of things, I dislike a lot of things, my dreams for the future are none of your damn business" he said, which made Sakura and Naruto seat drop, 'All he told us was his name' Naruto thought.

"You first Sakura" Kakashi said.

"I am Sakura Haruno, I like-" she said before blushing at Sasuke, "My dreams for the future-" she said before letting out a perverse giggle that Kakashi would have been proud of. "I dislike Ino and Naruto-baka" she said, hoping Naruto would be disheartened but the effect was the opposite, Naruto was really pleased at this for some reason.

"Blondie goes next" Kakashi said.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I like Ramen and my friends, I dislike a lot of things, wide foreheads with pink hairs are included" he said, looking at Sakura who was seething upon hearing this. "Dreams for the future, I want to become Hokage and protect the village, for it is my duty, and also restore my clan to greatness" he said.

"Naruto-baka, you don't have a clan, why are you lying? You are just a clan-less loser, I'm sure your parents were stupid idiots who left you cause they realized you were worse than them" Sakura said to him, trying to take a potshot at Naruto for having insulted her.

'Oh oh' Kakashi thought as Naruto stuck one of his hands and turned away from them.

**"Bansho Ten'in"** he said as Sakura flew towards him, while another hand formed a blue swirling ball that looked dangerous. Sakura came and his hand landed straight on her neck as the other hand with the blue ball came very close to her head, however at the very last moment, the ball disappeared, and Naruto simply smacked Sakura on her forehead.

"You could have died Sakura-chan" he said spitting every word. "Be glad that you are a comrade" Naruto finished, while Kakashi was sweating, he thought for sure that Naruto would finish her off.

"Do not insult my family, ever again, do you hear me" he said, tightening the grip on her necks. Sakura nodded, the message received loud and clear.

'This guy' Sasuke thought. 'How much is he hiding from all of us?' Sasuke thought.

"Sasuke, are you going to introduce yourself?" Naruto said as he released Sakura who was coughing and looking at Naruto, eyes full of fear.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha, I don't particularly like or dislike anything, my dream is to restore my clan and kill a certain someone"

"Okay" Kakashi said, "Meet me at training ground 10 tomorrow, at five am, for your final test before you become a genin" he said, sighing when he realized that they already knew that they were going to take a test. "Don't eat breakfast" he said, "You will puke it out if you do" he finished. Team 7 nodded.

"Dismissed" Kakashi said, "Naruto, you stay back, I want to talk to you" he said. Sasuke and Sakura left while Kakashi stared at Naruto, there was almost a five minute long silence between them before Kakashi spoke up.

"What was that? Why?" he asked Naruto.

"She insulted my parents, I can stand it if she insults me, but she insulted my mom and dad, the reason she is alive right now" he said. Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto, I know, but in your life as a Ninja you will find that many people will try to goad you into getting a reaction, are you going to foolishly be goaded into doing something reckless?" he asked Naruto who shook his head.

"Remember, Kushina and Minato-sensei were very close to me too, they meant everything to me ever since my teammates had passed away, and I was angry too, but did you see me prepare a Chidori to shove down her chest?" he asked Naruto, who shook his head.

"I know you are still a little green, but you need to learn to control your emotions" he said. "Okay?" he asked Naruto, who nodded before smiling.

"I guess I will apologize to her tomorrow" he said. "See ya Kakashi sensei" he said before vanishing in a crackle of electricity.

"That was cool, I wonder how he did that" Kakashi thought before leaving.

-x-

"Uzumaki, I am talking to you" a voice said, Naruto was just outside his apartment when he heard someone call out to him, he turned around and saw that it was a pink haired woman who was like Sakura, except she was a bit more adult looking.

"Can I ask you why you threatened killing my daughter, after all I have never ever mistreated you like the others" she said. It was true, Sakuya Haruno knew that Naruto was different from the monster, because she knew his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, she was one of the few civilians aware of Kushina's Jinchuriki status and Kushina was one of her best friends, alongside Hitomi Hyuuga.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked the woman, who was clearly Sakura's mother. "Sakuya Haruno" she said.

"Well, she insulted my parents, you know that?" he asked her, she shook her head. Sakura had left that bit out. "I can't stand anyone insulting my parents and so I lost control of the situation, I will apologize tomorrow" he finished.

"You know who your parents are?" Sakuya asked him, "How, your parents died on the night the Kyuubi was sealed into you, I mean so many deaths on that day, no one actually knows who exactly are your parents" she said

Naruto smiled, "So, you think I am a demon eh?" he said. Sakuya shook her head, she thought the boy had been given a raw deal and wanted to tell him that.

"You are really courageous" he said, "I wish Konoha had ninja's like you" he said.

Sakuya was confused. "What do you mean by that?" she asked him.

Naruto stared at the woman,. "You go against the villagers like that eh, I wish there were more people like you" he said simply. "Oh and by the way I know who my parents were, but I don't think I will tell you" he said before pulling her inside the apartment and sitting her down on a chair in the apartment, now Sakuya was petrified.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked, scared.

Naruto smiled, "Nothing, just give you something to drink because you seem friendly" he said as he took out a glass and poured some orange soda in it, before taking a swig from the bottle and giving the glass to Sakuya to drink.

"Not poisoned" Naruto said, as Sakuya looked at him shocked. "Naruto, I don't think-"

"Just drink" he said. "I apologize to you, I wish your daughter was as tolerable as you are, I guess that wide forehead of yours holds some intelligence, unlike your daughter" he said smiling.

Sakuya smiled. "Your mother used to make fun of me too" she said. "Kushina, you are more like her, unfortunately I don't know who your father is, but I can guess" she said.

"You knew my mother" Naruto asked her, in shock. Sakuya nodded. "Yes, she had that demon fox in her as well, she was just like you, so I do not hate you like the others" she said to him.

"Can you tell me about my mother?" he asked her, desperate to know anything. She nodded and spent most of the night telling him funny things about his mother.

As she was leaving, Naruto promised that he would apologize to Sakura first thing tomorrow, however Sakuya waved him off and told him that Sakura would be punished for what she had said to Naruto before leaving, she also implored Naruto to visit from time to time for dinner, Naruto promised her that he would and he would visit.

-x-

The next morning Naruto showed up at seven in the morning to find Sakura and Sasuke, both of the looking a bit angry at the fact that Naruto had shown up two hours late, Kakashi was still nowhere in sight.

"Naruto, can I speak to you?" Sakura asked him, before taking him to a secluded place away from Sasuke, "My mother says I have to apologize to you and I agree with her, apparently my mother knows your mom, and she says that I insulted one of her best friends, please forgive me" she said slowly. Naruto smiled.

"Think nothing about it Sakura, its my fault too, this wouldn't have happened had I lost my temper, but I think I am glad it happened, cause I found something close to family and your mom told me lots of things about mine, so all is forgiven, I hope you can do the same for me" he said. She nodded.

"Its my fault Naruto, I always wanted to prove myself to Sasuke-kun, and I was just not behaving the way I should have, but I had time to think, you are stronger, yesterday you could have taken my head off and I was angry at first, but the more I thought about it, I realized that all I have ever done is hold you back, its my fault' she said to him, Naruto smiled.

"You know, you could always train and get stronger, maybe Sasuke will notice you more" he said. Sakura smiled.

"You really think so?" she asked him. Naruto nodded.

"Unless he is gay that is, but I don't think he is" he said, which made Sakura giggle.

"Can you help me grow stronger so that I can impress Sasuke-kun?" she asked him. Naruto's grin faded.

"I will help you grow stronger, but I will only do that the moment you get your priorities right" he said. Upon seeing Sakura's expression he decided he would elaborate. "Sasuke is not the reason you should grow strong, you should gain strength to protect your precious people, the day you realize this, I will help you, but I don't think I will need to help you then, for you will grow stronger no matter what" he said. "And trust me, don't let people tell you you hold them back, try proving them wrong, train to show that they are wrong, there is no greater satisfaction in life than proving the nay-sayers wrong, trust me" he said smiling.

Sakura smiled too. "Friends?" she asked him extending her hand. Naruto smiled. "Sure, just try not fangirling too much and we will be fine" he said. taking her hand and shaking it.

Sakura scowled at that, before smiling again. Naruto saw Sasuke coming towards them and smiled. "Alright people. whatever this test is, we have to work as a team, so as long as we do that, we will be fine, ready?" he asked them. They nodded.

Just then Kakashi materialized from out of nowhere, and saw Team 7 sitting together, they looked, united.

'Ah, looks like they will pass, I hope they stay this way, we might have one of the strongest team to come out of Konoha ever since the three legendary Sannin themselves.

"Good, sorry I am late, I was helping an old woman with her groceries" he said. Naruto smiled. "I came late too Kakashi-sensei, I was lost on the road of life and was looking for a map"

"Good, now for your test, all you have to do is take these bells from me, if anybody does not do that by lunch, I send you back to the academy" he said simply. "Alright, begin" he said as he attached the two bells hanging around his waist.

-x-

Team 7 was hiding together.

"There are three of us and only two bells, what do we do Naruto?" Sasuke asked him.

"Kakashi never said that each of us have to grab a bell, so we will divide those bells into three and pass, now here's the plan, I fight him first and hold him, Sasuke and Sakura can sneak around him and try to grab the bells, alright?" he asked them.

"Naruto, why don't you just do your gravity technique you used on me?" Sakura asked him.

"I can't, the aim is difficult as the area I am aiming for is very thin, don't worry, we'll pass" he said before stepping out.

"Keep eyes on him Sakura, we have to sense the appropriate moment and steal the bells" Sasuke said.

Sakura nodded. She had to be successful and not hold anyone back.

-x-

"Kakashi Sensei" Naruto said, his Rinnegan eyes activated as he stared calmly at Kakashi, "Don't hold back" he said simply. Kakashi smiled.

'Those eyes' Sasuke and Sakura thought together, 'What happened to them?'

"You think you can survive a full onslaught from me?" he asked Naruto, who nodded.

"We have never sparred have we?" he asked him, Kakashi nodded.

"Okay then Kakashi sensei" he said, smiling. "Lesson One: Taijutsu" he said before disappearing, and reappearing behind Kakashi and lashing out a palm at him, which Kakashi barely got to. Naruto unleashed a flurry of jabs and kicks while trying to land a hit, however to Kakashi's credit, he blocked them all. However the fight was getting too hard to focus on to the naked eyes and Sasuke and Sakura were feeling it.

'I can't keep up, when did he get so strong?' Sasuke thought.

'Naruto' Sakura thought.

The fight continued before Naruto finally managed landing a kick, however Kakashi flipped away and landed at some distance, Naruto immediately formed hand seals.

"Lesson two: Genjutsu" Naruto said as Kakashi's eyes widened, Naruto had too much Chakra to perform those.

"**Illusion Technique: Infinite Darkness"** Naruto said and the effect was instantaneous, Kakashi was surrounded by complete darkness, but to Sakura and Sasuke it did not really matter.**  
**

"Hmm, so you can do this too eh?" he asked Naruto, however he couldn't see Naruto nodding. "Too bad Naruto, you will find that even in darkness, I am really very competent" he said.

"We'll see about that" Naruto said as they began exchanging blows again, Kakashi was relying on sound to counter Naruto.

"With more mastery of this technique, you will be able to cancel out sound too, and then I will be in trouble" Kakashi said simply as he was blocking.

Back behind the bushes Sasuke realized what happened, "Sakura, Kakashi is in a Genjutsu, come on, we have a chance, lets go" he said. Sakura nodded and followed Sasuke as they began making their way towards Kakashi.

The battle was still raging though, "You know, maybe you wanna check, there are some ways I can break this you know" Kakashi said before slashing himself with a Kunai.

'Pain, shit' Naruto thought.

"Sakura, Sasuke" Kakashi said teasing them, as he threw a Kunai into the bush nearby, they were closer, they were trying to sneak up to Kakashi.

"Nice try, but too late" Kakashi said as Sasuke rushed out trying to get the drop on him, "But did you think that would work?" he asked Sasuke mockingly.

**"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Technique"** Sasuke said shooting out small balls of fire that Kakashi effortlessly dodged, Naruto took the oppurtunity.

**"Wind Style: Divine Wind"** he said as four pillars of wind formed and made their way towards Kakashi as they kicked up dirt from the ground.

Sasuke caught on to what Naruto was doing and left small fire balls towards the wind, which immediately ignited and came blazing towards him.

There was a massive ball of fire when the Jutsu made contact with Kakashi, but when the smoke cleared, it was not Kakashi who was present, but a log.

'Damn it' Sasuke thought.

"Sakura" Naruto called out, Kakashi had emerged behind Sakura as Naruto did not have any idea about what to do, so he did the first thing that came to his mind.

He sunshined towards Sakura and managed taking her before Kakashi could strike, the crackle of electricity held Kakashi back, which gave Sasuke enough time to perform a Jutsu of his own.

**"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu"** Sasuke said, inhaling and forming a large fireball that was burning everything in its path and heading towards Kakashi, who jumped away in time, only to land into a trap.

'Who set a trap so fast' Kakashi thought as he substituted himself, barely doing it in time as he escaped.

"This bastard keeps escaping" Sasuke said.

Sakura and Naruto watched it from a distance. "That was impressive" Naruto said as he let Sakura go, who thanked him.

"That's what teammates do" he said, "Think nothing about it" he said smiling.

"Oh really?" Kakashi asked him, he had emerged behind him as he hit Naruto on the head.

"Sakura, now would be a good time" Naruto said as the kunai's hilt landed and Naruto dissolved into wood.

"Wood Clone?" Kakashi thought, 'How is that possible?'

Sakura realized what had happened and seized the bells and made a run for it.

She ran into the clearing where she found Naruto and Sasuke smiling at her, she had done it.

"Good job, Sakura" Sasuke said as he cut one bell into two and gave one half to Naruto keeping the other for himself, while giving Sakura a whole bell"

"Hmm" Kakashi said smiling, "Nice job, not only did Naruto keep me busy and provided shock value, Sasuke and Sakura performed their jobs admirably, I dare say you seized the bells from me, so, you pass" he said.

Naruto smiled, maybe a team wouldn't be so bad after all.

**Done, another one is in the bag, man I am on fire today, this chapter was fun to write, and I am officially ending the Sakura bashing, I decided that I would make her more like her post time skip character as soon as possible plus I do no indulge in Sasuke bashing anyway. The reason I put Sakuya Haruno in such a good light is cause every story portrays her as a dastardly little bitch and I don't like that, so I thought, why not change it.**

**I hope you liked this chapter, I had fun writing it, I did it in one sitting too so I guess that was awesome.**

**Now the poll will be closed within the next few days, interesting as Hinata is currently tying with a cloud Kunoichi and I really hope we don't have a tie breaker.**

**Naruto will discover a new Path next chapter, guess which one it is, I will give you a cookie (Not).**

**Read and review and PM me your doubts (not that you have any).**

**Later.**

**Before I live though, here are the pairings, the time to make any changes would be now, send me a PM if you want to see changes.**

**Naruto/Undecided, the poll will decide.**

**Sasuke/Sakura,**

**Shikamaru/Temari,**

**Neji/Tenten,**

**Rock Lee/ Fem Haku ( I think their pairing will be hilarious)**

**Chouji/Ino**

**Kiba/Some random woman**

**Shino/Bugs.**

**Tell me what you think about it (and while you're at it, help me decide pairings for Kiba and Shino, I like Shino, I don't want Shino to hook up with bugs)**

**Once Again, Later.**


	6. Tazuna And The Waves

**Hello world, and this is Chapter 6 of my ninja fanfiction, I hope you had a good time, I would like to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the father's out there, where ever they are, your job is as tough as a mother's and you deserve as much commendation as a mother does.**

**Now the pairing poll has been closed, and let me tell you, it was one of the most exciting things ever following those polls, because the winner came from nowhere, seriously, she was in third place for all but the last few hours of the poll, I will explain more at the bottom.**

**I WANT TO BUY NARUTO, HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME**

**NOTE: CORRECTED A MAJOR FORMATTING ERROR, I HOPE EVERYTHING IS FINE NOW.**

**And on with the story,**

**"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu"** Sasuke said, inhaling and forming a large fireball that was burning everything in its path and heading towards Kakashi, who jumped away in time, only to land into a trap.

'Who set a trap so fast' Kakashi thought as he substituted himself, barely doing it in time as he escaped.

"This bastard keeps escaping" Sasuke said.

Sakura and Naruto watched it from a distance. "That was impressive" Naruto said as he let Sakura go, who thanked him.

"That's what teammates do" he said, "Think nothing about it" he said smiling.

"Oh really?" Kakashi asked him, he had emerged behind him as he hit Naruto on the head.

"Sakura, now would be a good time" Naruto said as the kunai's hilt landed and Naruto dissolved into wood.

"Wood Clone?" Kakashi thought, 'How is that possible?'

Sakura realized what had happened and seized the bells and made a run for it.

She ran into the clearing where she found Naruto and Sasuke smiling at her, she had done it.

"Good job, Sakura" Sasuke said as he cut one bell into two and gave one half to Naruto keeping the other for himself, while giving Sakura a whole bell"

"Hmm" Kakashi said smiling, "Nice job, not only did Naruto keep me busy and provided shock value, Sasuke and Sakura performed their jobs admirably, I dare say you seized the bells from me, so, you pass" he said.

Naruto smiled, maybe a team wouldn't be so bad after all.

"I think you guys realized the importance of working as a team, because in the shinobi world, those who disobey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash, always remember that, and make sure that you guys work together like you did today, and we might have one of the best teams to ever come out of this village" Kakashi said, which made Naruto and Sakura smile with pride while Sasuke merely smirked.

"Naruto, what are those eyes, they look weird" Sakura said, indicating the strange ripple patterned eyes that Naruto possessed.

"That single tomoe there is like the Sharingan, I wonder what that is, is that a dojutsu?" Sasuke asked him.

Naruto sighed, about time that he said something to someone about his abilities. "Yes" he said. "Like the Sharingan, this is also a Dojutsu, its called the Rinnegan, but I want you to keep it quiet" he said to Sasuke, who nodded.

"Why do you want to keep it quiet Naruto?" Sakura asked him.

"I have my reasons, just do what I say for now, don't tell anyone, it'll be alright then" Naruto said. His teammates nodded.

"What power do those eyes give you? Is that the power of gravity I saw you use?" Sasuke asked him, Naruto nodded.

"Yes, there are some other things, I haven't discovered it yet so even I don't know, since I am the last clan member to possess these eyes, I don't have anyone to teach me so I guess I will learn it as I go along" Naruto said.

"Naruto, how did you do the wood clone?" Kakashi asked Naruto.

"These eyes give me control over all the five basic chakra natures and I can combine them to form sub elemental Chakra as well, as a matter of fact, I also have Ice Release and Storm Release and many others, its really cool" he said.

"Interesting" Kakashi said, this would have to go to the Hokage, "Well, I guess we should be heading home, tomorrow the Team reports for out first mission" Kakashi said.

"Alright Kakashi sensei" Naruto said, delighted. The team dispersed as Kakashi vanished while the rest of them began walking together back to the village.

"Sasuke-kun, do you want to go on a date with me?" Sakura asked him, Sasuke didn't respond, Naruto saw this and smiled.

"Sasuke, why don't you just say yes for once, I mean what can you lose?" he asked him.

"I have to get strong Naruto, to beat him, I can't waste my time on dates" Sasuke said, which made Sakura look crushed. However Naruto just smiled.

"So you still don't know what true strength is do you?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke raised an eyebrow towards him.

"One of these days you are going to realize what true strength is, and then you are going to STALK Sakura, I tell you that" he said laughing.

"Take that back, I will never stalk anyone, I am too good for that" Sasuke said, gritting his teeth, Sakura giggled at the comment Naruto had made.

"We'll see about that, I am going to Ichiraku's for Ramen" Naruto said, "Anybody wanna come with?" he asked them.

There was silence as both of them stared at him.

"You eat too much Ramen Naruto" Sakura said. "It can't be too good for your health" she said.

Naruto shrugged, "Who cares, I never get sick" he said as he vanished in a sparkle of electricity.

"Okay, I have to ask him to teach me that" Sasuke said, sounding exasperated.

Sakura nodded in affirmation, she wanted to learn that too.

-x-

"Yo" Naruto said to the old man Teuchi as he materialized out of nowhere and caused Teuchi to knock off a ramen bowl that was in his hands and cause a giant mess.

"Are you crazy Naruto?" the old man asked him, "What were you thinking, did you think it was fun for me huh?" he asked Naruto, who was laughing away.

"Oh come on Old Man, you know I make up for it by ordering so much Ramen" he said, to which Teuchi smiled. That was true, the kid did eat a lot of Ramen.

"So the usual eh?" he asked Naruto, who nodded. "Yep"

Naruto sat down and began the wait for what he considered was food sent by Kami itself, Ramen, he began looking around town, there were some familiar people he recognized, one of which was Rock Lee and his teacher Might Guy. He waved to them, which brought them over to the Ramen place.

"Naruto-kun" Lee said sounding extremely excited, "I am looking forward to a spar with you one of these days, I hope that they are as youthful as every other spar we have ever had" he said. Naruto smiled, the enthusiasm that Lee displayed was contagious.

"Sure, maybe someday" Naruto said, before looking at his other two team mates, one of them looked like a Panda with buns instead of hair, the other one also looked effeminate, thanks to long hair and a girl-ish presence, however this was a Hyuuga.

"Naruto-kun" Might Guy said pompously. "Meet the other two prodigies of youthfulness, Neji Hyuuga and Tenten" he said before posing dramatically.

"Sorry Guy" Naruto said, "Did you say something?" he asked him, which made Guy open his mouth and shout 'WHAT?' and then burst into tears that flew from his eyes like they were the great river Nile.

"Damn you Naruto and your hip attitude..wait, that does not seem right when I say it like that" Guy said, before deciding that it was not worth the trouble and smiling anyway.

"So, your teammates eh? Lee?, How do you like your team?" he asked Lee who smiled enthusiastically, this kid did everything enthusiastically.

"They are extremely youthful, Heji here is my ultimate rival, I strive to get stronger so that I can defeat him Naruto-kun" Lee said smiling. Naruto nodded.

"I think having an ultimate rival is a great thing Lee, I am sure you will be able to defeat Neji without any problem" Naruto said. Lee smiled however upon hearing this, Neji stiffened.

"What did you say?" he asked Naruto.

"I said Lee can easily defeat you, if he works hard enough" Naruto said to Neji, detecting the tone of Neji's voice and staying on alert. However Neji did not do anything foolish. he just stepped back and smiled.

"As if a person who can't even channel Chakra defeat me, fate has dealt Lee the wrong cards you know, he can never beat me, just like a dead last loser such as you can never beat me" he said to Naruto with a smug smile on his face.

"Neji" Tenten said in a tone that indicated warning, Guy and Lee were too shocked to say anything.

"You are a Hyuuga aren't you?" Naruto asked Neji, who nodded. "No wonder you are so pompous, well let me tell you something Neji, there are some eyes that are better than that Byakugan of yours" Naruto said smiling.

Neji snorted. "The Sharingan is no match-"

"Not the Sharingan" Naruto said, "There is a better dojutsu, but I don't think I will tell someone as meek and lowly as the Hyuuga about it" Naruto said, now it was his turn to wear a smug smile on his face.

"You dare insult the Hyuuga clan?" Neji asked Naruto, who simply nodded.

"I don't care what clan it is, people like you who believe in fate and not even work towards changing it cannot be considered proper Shinobi or even human beings, but keep thinking that way" Naruto said to Neji, who was nnow visibly angry.

"My sister, Hinata-sama" Neji said, spitting out Hinata's name. "Told me about you, a lot, she said that you never give up whatsoever and keep trying, but what is the point of trying if you don't even have any talent, you are just a big loser, like my sister Hinata" Neji said.

"Don't call her that Neji" Naruto said. "Just because she is a good human being who shows compassion, don't you dare insult her, she is ten times the person you can ever be" Naruto said, the conversation was slowly heating up. Lee, Guy and Tenten did not seem to bother with stopping it.

"Good human being eh?" Neji said with disgust laced in his voice. "We'll see if that helps her become a strong shinobi, Naruto"

Naruto smiled, "Just like Sasuke, even you are ignorant as to what true strength is, but the day you realize what it is, the giant stick in your ass will automatically be removed, and you will be cured of your sickness" Naruto said. "Guy-sensei, Lee, Tenten-san, I have to go, I don't think I can stand talking to such a loser" he said.

"Of course, you have no clan, your parents probably abandoned you, your mother and father are probably happy that they left a dead last loser behind, I can't see anybody ever wanting you" Neji said.

"Neji, take that back and apologize" Guy said, he knew Naruto's mother and father, although the kid himself did not know, and he knew that Naruto would find is touchy.

"Its okay, Guy-sensei, its alright, I know how my parents died and where they are right now, I know it. But at least they didn't die like Neji's father here" Naruto said.

"How dare yo-"

"SHUT UP!" Naruto said, unleashing a wave of KI, upon which Neji paled, even paler than what he actually was.

"One day I get to get my hands on you Neji, and then for insulting my parents, I will beat the living shit out of you, I will take you to an inch of your measly little life and make you wish someone activated that cursed seal on your head, and then, if your 'fate' is good, I will leave you that way, or else-" Naruto trailed off, unleashing more KI, Neji was almost paralyzed at this point, Naruto was using some of his demonic chakra and that was seriously high grade, killer intent like that was not pleasant for anyone to ever experience.

"Naruto, I apologize on behalf of my teammate" Tenten said, and the KI receeded, Neji breathed a sigh of relief however he tensed up when he saw Naruto's face and looked into his piercing blue eyes.

"I meant every word Neji, you better not ever run into me, ever" he said.

Neji snorted, but before he could say anything, he was taken away be Guy-sensei and Lee. Tenten had an apologetic look on her face as she left bidding Naruto a good bye.

Naruto sighed, he finished what remained of that Ramen, the encounter with Neji had put a bad taste in his mouth and the appetite he had worked up had vanished.

-x-

"He can make wood clones, did you know that Sandaime sama?" Kakashi asked the Hokage, they were in the Hokage's office and Sarutobi was buried in mounds of paperwork, wondering about how he could possibly escape the punishment that was given to him, sometimes he wished he had never become the Hokage.

"Yes, Naruto told me about his ability to combine nature chakras and create the sub-elements, its very tempting don't you think, those eyes of his, we need to keep this hidden for as long as possible, otherwise there might be people including some on the council itself that might do something out of jealousy" he finished.

"I agree, although it was surprising when he used that technique, I was forced to drop my guard down and Sakura stole the bells, that was some fine teamwork, they have potential" Kakashi said.

"Hmm, Kakashi, you might be right, wait for the other Jounins to turn in their evaluation results will you? Lets see if the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and Team 8, the other two teams with potentials mirroring your own team pass" Sarutobi said, Kakashi nodded.

Just then the door opened and Asuma and Kurenai came in, holding hands, Kakashi and Sarutobi both raised an eyebrow when they saw that, and Kakashi giggled while Sarutobi stifled a laugh. Kurenai blushed as she detached her hand from Asuma's and stood away, the public display of affection was not intentional and completely by accident as even Asuma seemed to realize that maybe that was not the best idea.

"About time Asuma" the Hokage said, "So, how did your team do?"

"Brilliant" Asuma said, "They realized soon enough that they had to work as a team and Shikamaru has potential, he is just very lazy, Choji is loyal to Shikamaru and Ino is a loudmouth but when forced, she worked fine with them together, looks like they had it in their genes to be a good team" Asuma finished. Sarutobi smiled before turning to Kurenai.

"Oh, yes" Kurenai said. "Team 8 passed with flying colors, they realized the importance of teamwork, Hinata is a total team player and Kiba might be a hothead but he is a good person and did what the leader, Shino asked them to. Shino has the potential to be a strong squad leader, I think we as a whole unit make a fine tracker team, with dogs, bugs and Byakugan" Kurenai finished.

"Good, Kakashi has passed his team too, the other teams have failed, so I guess you are the official Rookie 9 of this year" Sarutobi finished. Kurenai was staring at Kakashi, shocked that he had passed a team, but Asuma grinned.

"The strongest Rookie 9 to have come out of Konoha in quite some time Hokage-sama" Asuma said, Sarutobi nodded.

"Correct, well, lets introduce them to the joys of D-Ranks tomorrow okay?" Sarutobi said. Asuma smiled, so did Kakashi and Kurenai, this was going to be fun, they were looking forward to seeing the reaction of the genin to all the boring missions they would have to accomplish.

-x-

"Okay, that's it, I am fed up of that damn cat" Naruto said. "I will kill it and spray its brains all over the wall and feed it to the Inuzuka dogs if I have to catch that thing one more time" he finished before crossing his arms and sitting down cross legged, obviously sounding pissed off.

"Naruto" Iruka said sounding angry, "Show some respect to the Hokage, will you? You are a Genin, you start off by doing some low rank missions" he said. "You are not ready to take on something more serious" he finished.

"Oh come on Iruka sensei, you of all people do not believe that" Naruto said before pouting. "This is serious, I am sick of doing those stupid D Ranks, why should I have to clean a fence, let the people clean their own damn fence" Naruto said. Sasuke nodded while Sakura was looking down afraid of what the Hokage might say, however Sarutobi was smiling.

"I see, Iruka, Naruto wants to prove himself to everyone, he wants to get started on doing serious things right away" he said. It had been two weeks since they had been a team and all of them were forced to do menial things such as catch a cat or walk the dogs and Naruto was getting sicker of it, today he had reached the breaking point.

"What do you think Kakashi, are they ready to take a C Rank mission?" He asked Kakashi, who nodded.

"Yes, I think they will do okay on a C Rank mission" he said Sarutobi nodded.

"Okay, lets see, Iruka, find a C Rank mission for our team will you" he said. Iruka was stunned.

"Hokage-sama" Iruka said in protest, "You can't possibly-"

"Trust Naruto Iruka" Sarutobi said, effectively silencing him. "Naruto is strong, he will be fine, don't worry, plus he has to start sometime right?"

"Yeah Iruka sensei, don't worry about me, I am awesome, I will do it" he said confidently. Sarutobi and Iruka smiled.

"Okay" Iruka said going through the files on the table in front of him, "There is an escort mission to Wave" he said, "That should be a nice starting mission Hokage-sama" Iruka said.

"Ah, Tazuna-san eh? I think that is a good choice, send him in" he called out as the door opened, and in stepped and old man, who was drunk.

'I know this guy' Naruto thought as he went back to the time he had been in the wave, this was the father of the guy who had lent them a boat to go to the wave, however the details of that mission were a secret so Naruto did not say anything, meanwhile Tazuna stared at Naruto but did not recognize him.

'The guy was drunk then too, he wouldn't have recognized me no matter what' Naruto thought. 'This is good, I can stay hidden' he thought.

"Alright, so you gave me brats for my protection, how shameful" Tazuna said, which caused Sasuke and Sakura to glare at him, while Naruto just stared at Tazuna.

"You are too drunk, there is a high probability that the only person we have to save you from is you yourself" Naruto said, which made Tazuna smile.

"I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, I am too good for this, I wanted real protection, not stupid kids like you midget" he said to Naruto.

Naruto fumed, that was it, Tazuna made fun of his height for the first and last time.

"Easy Naruto" Kakashi said sensing the turmoil that Naruto was facing, don't you go killing our client now, we need him alive" he said. Naruto nodded, maybe killing off the client would not be such a good idea. However he remembered that the Wave he had visited was extremely poor, he wondered if things got better.

"Alright Hokage-sama, we will take our mission and head to the Wave, we will take our leave now" he said. The Hokage nodded.

"Do that" he said simply. "Tazuna-san, Kakashi is one of my best men, even then I think he will not be necessary, the kids you speak of are more than competent to finish your escort and protection on their own" he said. Tazuna nodded.

"Fine, if you say so" Tazuna said, "Listen up, we will leave tomorrow when I am more sober than what I am now, you okay with that?" he asked the team, they nodded.

"Great then. I will see you tomorrow, don't be late" he said, the team looked at Kakashi, who sighed.

"Okay, I'll be on time" Kakashi said, the jounin had shown up at least an hour late to every single team meeting, Team 7 had no reason to believe that he would actually show up on time for anything.

"No seriously, I take my missions seriously" Kakashi said.

"We'll see about that sensei, old man, I want to talk to you" he said looking at the Hokage. "Alone".

The old man sighed, "Naruto, meet me in an hour when I am alone and then you can say what you want to say" Sarutobi finished. Naruto nodded.

"Alright then, anyone want some Ramen?" Naruto asked no one in particular, they all sighed, this had become some sort of a joke among the other members of his team, they would take bets on whether Naruto would ask them for Ramen or not, Kakashi won almost every single one, because he bet that Naruto would ask for Ramen daily.

Naruto sighed, looked like no one on his team agreed with him on the fact that Ramen was sent to the humans by the Gods.

The last few weeks had been eventful to him for one reason and one reason only, he had begun practicing from the Scroll of Sealing and had found some downright creepy stuff there, one of it was the **Edo Tensei** summoning Jutsu which could revive the death, invented by the Nidaime Hokage, he also found tons of other Jutsu that required Godly amounts of Chakra to use, fortunately thanks to the Rinnegan, Naruto's Uzumaki traits and the Kyuubi, Naruto had more Chakra than say the Gods, so this was never a problem.

He had also discovered the **Chibaku Tensei, **one of the most powerful Jutsus of his Rinnegan, that could pull objects in the vicinity by extreme gravitational pull to create a huge sphere that could obliterate everything trapped within it. Naruto sighed as he looked back on how he had discovered the technique a few days ago.

**Flashback.**

Ever since Naruto had returned from the village, he had brought millions of scrolls with him that he could access via a special 'pocket' Jutsu that his grandfather had created, by altering the dimensions itself, Naruto's grandfather, one of the most accomplished sealing masters to have ever walked the face of the earth had created a mini dimension which acted as sort of a portal between two places, thus one could step into the portal from one place and come out the other, Naruto had used this technique exclusively to withdraw money from the gigantic amount of wealth that was found in the vaults of his Grandfathers dilapidated mansion (or at least it appeared to those who were not Uzumaki by blood, to the Uzumaki, it was revealed that the place was not as devastated as it looked to the others, thanks to some complex Genjutsu seals that Naruto could only hope to replicate)

However once he began stepping in and was granted full access to the mansion, the several Uzumaki scrolls that were kept there for him to use were available, he had sent several clones to comb through them. Several dispersed and returned with complex seal formulae that were for mostly unfinished seals that could wreak havoc if ever unleashed, he also came across some weapons that he couldn't inherit now that he had inherited the Sword Of The Butterfly (at least that's what his Grandpa had called it). It was here he read that only Uzumaki were known to ever posses the Rinnegan, as the first ever Uzumaki was a descendant of both the sons of the Sage Of Six Paths, and the last person to have possessed the eyes was Kogorou Uzumaki, almost a century ago, and even he had not managed to unlock the full potential of the Rinnegan, however one of the Jutsu that he had used was the **Chibaku Tensei**, upon reading this Naruto's interest perked, and he was tempted to read more about the other things the Sage had done.

Naruto read some more about the fable of the Sage Of Six Paths, however Kurama scoffed and told him that none of what he had read was a fable, it was all real, the Sage was the creator of the Shinobi way, the creator of all Jutsu, and also had a really complex Jutsu known as the Creation Of All Things, which Kurama had explained to him.

**"Many eons ago, the old man had within him the Jubi, a ten tailed monstrosity that was the most dangerous demon to walk the earth and was said by many to be the embodiment of destruction, however the old man had sealed this Jubi in himself and made sure that peace would prevail, and it stayed that way for many days before it came the time for The Sage to die, and he knew that his death would unleash the Jubi again, so he used the jutsu of his, called 'CREATION OF ALL THINGS' to split the Jubi and create Nine tailed beasts, while he sealed the physical body of the beast into a sphere, which he created by using Chibaku Tensei, and that has today come to be known as the moon, the tailed beasts were then spread out and eventually captured and used as a weapon"** Kurama told him when Naruto had asked him about it.

Sword itself had some things to say about the Sage.

_'The Sage was very noble and kind, he had two sons between which he split his powers, the elder son got his power while the younger one got his knowledge, you can say that he split the whole concept of Yin-Yang release between the two sons of his, however the two sons eventually began a rivalry that continued for ages, the first brother was the ancestor of the Uchiha, while the younger was the ancestor of the Senju, the two of them were cursed to battle each other, however, now only one Senju and two Uchiha remain, the rivalry maybe coming to an_ _end_' the sword had told him.

"One last Senju, who are you talking about?" Naruto had asked him. He knew that Sasuke and Itachi were the last living Uchiha.

_'Tsunade of the Sannin, her name was well known even in Uzushi, last thing I heard was that she survived_' the sword said, and Naruto nodded, Ero-Sennin had told him about his hot headed teammate.

**"Naruto, for some reason, you having the Rinnegan and a beast in you means that you are closer to the Sage than I could even imagine, no wonder you have my support, you realize that you have a lot to live up to don't you?"** the fox had asked him. Naruto had gulped then, he seriously was nothing compared to the Sage Of Six Paths.

"I have to practice this Chibaku Tensei this guy speaks of" he said to no one in particular

**End Flashback**

-x-

**Somewhere in Uzushigakure,**

There were two figures walking towards an old looking building, one of them was frail and wheel chair bound, the other was a beautiful woman with purple hair. The woman made some handseals and all of a sudden, a paper was summoned which shaped itself into a bird before flying away.

"Can you see it?" the man asked the woman, the woman nodded. "So you have to be with an Uzumaki to see what is actually in the village?"

"Nagato, you might be right, I was here a week ago, all my paper clone could see were ruins, apparently the village is better hidden than I thought" she said to the man named Nagato. "Even though the security was not too good" she said, "I got in easily"

Nagato smiled, he had red hair, and a really really frail body, he also had fascinating eyes, ripple patterned and purple colored, the eyes were mystifying to look at, that was what the woman would see every time she looked at Nagato, his eyes.

"Don't sell yourself short Konan, I am sure you played a huge part in sneaking in" Nagato said to her, causing Konan to smile, neither of them seemed to notice the rain that had started pouring.

"I don't sense anyone here, at least my rain doesn't" Nagato said. Konan nodded.

"Are we going to find anything here Nagato?" Konan said to him, Nagato nodded.

"If what I dreamed was correct, then the last of my relatives is alive, and he is here somewhere, he has been here, I can feel it, I know he was here" he said, "We can find him and take him with us, can you imagine, if I were to teach him myself, how strong that child would be?"

Konan nodded. "If you teach him, I am sure he will be strong Nagato" she said smiling.

"Unfortunately you won't be teaching him" a voice said, appearing from out of nowhere. It was a masked man, he wore something that had swirls on it and was orange colored. Konan stiffened but Nagato held his hand up.

"Your relative is safe for now Nagato, you can pursue him later, for now, I want you to come with me" the man in the mask said.

"Who are you?" Nagato asked the man.

"Uchiha Madara"

-x-

**Land Of The Waves**

The office of Gato was a really fascinating place, it always seemed to be full of drunks and beautiful looking women, currently he was surrounded by two of them, almost naked, he was talking to a masked person with no eyebrows and what most people would describe as a giant sword that resembled a cleaver.

"You know Tazuna, your job is to kill him" Gato said to the man in front of him, compared to Gato's dwarfish height, the man looked like a giant.

"A bridge builder, what is so problematic that you need a Shinobi to kill him" the man asked in an amused tone.

"Just make sure that you and your bitch kill him Zabuza, I don't pay you to ask questions" Gato said, feeling more courageous than he should have at that moment. Zabuza's mouth twitched.

"I haven't accepted the mission yet Gato, believe me you when I say I can cut your head where you stand and finished with those two women" he said pointing towards the two attractive and almost naked women that were around Gato. "And" Zabuza continued before unleashing his sword and pointing it in a way that it just reached Gato's head, "Never ever ever insult Haku, you get that?" he asked Gato, who nodded.

"Do you a-accept?" he asked Zabuza who nodded.

"Yes, I want advance payment for this Gato, this Tazuna person gives off a strange vibe, I have a feeling that I will have some problem dealing with him" he said.

-x-

**Konohagakure, Outskirts**

"Hey Kakashi sensei, Ican't believe you actually made it on time this time" Naruto said grinning, it was the day after they had received their first ever C Rank mission from the Hokage and they were supposed to escort an alcoholic bridge builder to the land of Waves, and Naruto was excited, he wanted to see what had changed in the wave since the last time he had been there, he had also wanted to see if the other man, Kaiza who had helped him out the last time in procuring a boat was there to see him.

"Well Naruto, this was a mission, how could I possibly be late?" Kakashi asked Naruto, who nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, now that we are here, let's go" Sasuke said, getting straight to the point.

"Alright, I will be at the back, Naruto you can take point, don't worry" he said to Naruto who just scoffed before moving front. "Sakura and Sasuke to the sides, lets keep those eyes and ears open"

Sakura and Sasuke nodded and they were on their way, thanks to the presence of Tazuna, Naruto felt that their speed was greatly hindered, while Kakashi who was getting bored mused whether he should take out one of his books and start reading.

Just then Naruto noticed a water puddle, a water puddle when it hadn't rained for weeks.

'What the hell, there's some ninja hiding, its an ambush, but who the hell are they planning the ambush for?' Naruto thought. Kakashi was thinking along the same lines.

'Should I attack or should I wait for them to come at us and then determine the target'

Naruto decided to say nothing to Kakashi and just get moving, hopefully they would be able to find out who the people who had planned the ambush were after.

Just then two ninja's emerged from the water puddle and attacked from behind, and just as Kakashi turned, he was slashed into half, Sakura let out a cry of alarm while Sasuke took out some shuriken and aimed it at the chains the two ninja who had just come in full view carried. The shuriken hit and the Ninja's were pinned down.

Naruto knew that Kakashi was still alive, so he wasn't as bothered as Sakura and Sasuke looked, meanwhile one of the brothers had started making a charge towards Tazuna.

'I knew this bastard was lying' Naruto thought, before jumping and forming a blue ball of Chakra in his hand.

**"Rasengan"** he said smashing that ball into one of the Ninja's face while Sasuke was engaged in a Taijutsu battle with the second. The **Rasengan **hit and drilled the ninja's face, he was dead instantly.

Upon seeing the first Ninja dead, the second lost his orientation and Sasuke managed to land a kick on the guys head and promptly knocked him out.

"Wait, nicely done Sasuke" Naruto said to Sasuke, who nodded in acknowledgement.

"You didn't do too bad yourself Naruto" he said, who nodded as he formed some hand seals.

**"Summoning Technique: King Of Hell"**

'What the hell?' Sasuke thought, 'Summoning Technique, what is this guy doing?'

A weird tentacle shaped creature began moving and attached itself to the demonic statue, while Sasuke and Sakura could not see it.

"Tell me who are you, and who do you work for?" Naruto asked him.

"You killed my brother, why should I tell you?" he asked Naruto before the tentacles tightened causing more pain.

"This can go on forever you know" Naruto said, "Tell me who hired you and save yourself" he said.

"Never" the man said. Naruto sighed.

"Fine, I shall pass judgement then" he said. The tentacles pulled out of the man as he died screaming.

'I didn't wanna do that' Naruto thought, 'But oh well'

"What up?" Kakashi asked, surprising the hell out of Sasuke and Sakura, who both looked delighted at him appearing, Naruto looked indifferent.

"I knew you were alive, could you get a read on their moves, I am sure they were after Tazuna but I need a confirmation" he said to Kakashi who nodded before turning towards Tazuna.

"You wanna explain Tazuna-san?" he asked him.

"Okay, I live in the Land Of Waves and am building a bridge that will connect to the mainland, and I am worried that this bridge, which is an important one that will connect two countries and thus boost wave's trading and decrease prices, will be hunted down by Gato, the shipping magnate, I knew he would put some ninja's on my trail, but you have to believe me, I put in all the money I had and all I could afford was a C Rank mission, please, please help me" Tazuna said almost tearing up.

Naruto sighed, he had been haunted by the poverty that existed in the wave, and wanted to do something about it, he figured that by ending Gato's influence he would do a whole lot, so he looked at Kakashi.

"We can do this sensei, come on" he said to Kakashi, who was still pondering. Sasuke and Sakura too decided to tell Kakashi to continue the mission.

"Fine" Kakashi said sighing, "I will send these bodies to Konoha, since you killed them, you can claim the bounty on them Naruto, it will be a big help to your financial situation" he said, Naruto nodded.

"Alright team, we are going on with this mission" he said.

However he could not shake off the feeling that not everything was right.

**Phew, done, longer chapter than the last three, so tell me what you think about the chapter, you can do that by leaving a review. I decided that I will leave some of the story aspects to be controllable by the reader himself, so you can kill off someone you do not like or bring back someone you love, plus I think it will be fun trying to mold the story to fit in with what you chose.**

**Now I know that the Nagato scene was slightly confusing, here's the deal, this is a foreshadowing, Naruto's enemies will come and they will come three years later for some reason, that's why the Akatsuki reformation was done now, can anyone tell me why I did that, this scene has everything to do with the ending of my fic, so don't worry, its going somewhere.**

**As was the Neji scene, to no one's surprise Naruto and Neji will fight in the near future, and I am building up to their fight, there will be a little more build up and a satisfying payoff so don't worry.**

**Now on to the pairings, here is version two, or should I say Beta 1 (the previous one was Alpha) of the pairings, take a look.**

**Sasuke/Fem Haku (changed from Sakura, I wanted to see Sasuke Haku pairing)**

**Neji/Tenten**

**Shikamaru/Temari,**

**Choji/Ino**

**Sakura?**

**Rock Lee?**

**Shino/Shiho**

**Kiba/Hinata (tell me what you think)**

**Naruto...Yugito**

**That's right, for those of you who did not do so, check out my profile, Yugito wins the poll, tell me how you want the fic to develop their relationship and what not.**

**Remember, the pairings won't be final for quite some time, although Naruto/Yugito is set, so if someone positively hates a pairing, you can still tell me and I will change them.**

**Also, can the one guy who voted for Kin PM me or leave a review if he has no account, I wanna know who it was out of curiosity.**

**Next Chapter is Zabuza vs Kakashi**

**Later**


	7. The Demon Of The Hidden Mist

**As Zetsu would often say, Hallooooooooooooo.**

**I am back with Chapter Seven of Naruto: The Second Sage, and I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, there will be an in depth note at the bottom, but first there is something I would like to announce.**

**A lot of people have asked me how a Naruto and Yugito pairing will work, and I admit it, it seems preposterous, I personally was hoping Samui would win, but then I decided to use the power of fanfiction and Alternate Universe fiction to render Yugito to be of thirteen years of age, so I hope you guys are okay with that, I will also remember that the next time, something as fickle as a pairing that people have diverse opinions on (at least with Naruto) will not be decided via poll. I received one negative review in particular about the preposterous pairing and how it will work, trust me, I'll make it work and it will make sense, at least I hope it will. Now that that's out of the way, here is the disclaimer, dedicated to the video game Zero Wing and also horrible translation.**

**ALL YOUR NARUTO ARE BELONG TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO...WHAT YOU SAY?**

"Sing a song rower, come on" Tazuna said to a man rowing the boat. Team 7 and their client were well on their way to the land of the waves, it had been about three hours since they had been attacked by the Demon Brothers of The Mist and they were well on their way towards the country. The plan was to first stay at Tazuna's house and then think about where to go from there, for all Kakashi knew, there were more people that Gato had hired to go after Tazuna.

"Tazuna" the rower said, "You are drunk, again. I need you to shut up now" Everybody nodded, Tazuna had brought a bottle of Sake with him that he had been drinking from after the encounter with the brother's of the mist and it was now getting on everyone's nerves. Naruto had almost punched Tazuna while Sakura and Sasuke hadn't been so physical but were also fed up with the man's behavior.

"I need everyone here to stay as quiet as they can be, for all we know, Gato can have eyes and ears everywhere, that scumbag" the rower said, everyone, even Tazuna nodded, five minutes passed before they hit the shore.

"There you go" the rower said to them, Kakashi thanked him, the rower shook it off, telling him that he would be doing the whole nation a favor by getting the damn bridge built, Kakashi nodded, he told the rower that he would work towards getting the bridge built.

They were soon on their way towards Tazuna's house, the mist that seemed to be in the air had relatively cleared, leaving a relieved Team 7 as they could see more clearly now, however Naruto had other ideas.

"Wait" he said suddenly, they had been walking on the path for quite a while now, with Tazuna telling them where to go, however Naruto suddenly asked them to stop while hurling a Kunai in the bushes, a squeak told everyone that someone or something had been hit, and sure enough, it was a rabbit, that had just begun darting across them, obviously his progress impeded thanks to the Kunai in its throat.

"Aw Naruto" Sakura said in a tone that really suggested admonishment more than anything else, over the last few days she had warmed up to the him, he was also apparently friends with her mother, all this worked in the favor of their friendship and soon Sakura was also quite close to Naruto.

"You killed that cute little bunny" she said pouting, before twitching at the sight of the dead rabbit, Naruto did not seemingly react to this, he was stone faced as he was of late, Team 7 found this new serious Naruto (in contrast with the dead last of the academy) a fresh sort of change.

"The rabbit" Naruto said, pointing a finger at it, white fur coat and all, "Why does it have a white coat in this season?" he asked no one in particular, the Team just looked at him puzzled, however Kakashi seemed to catch on.

"Right, not in this season at least, that means that this rabbit is domestic, unlikely as there are no houses in the vicinity" Kakashi said as Tazuna nodded. His house was still quite a ways away.

"That means-" Naruto said.

"EVERYBODY DOWN NOW" Kakashi and Naruto both yelled simultaneously as Team 7 ducked, Sakura pulling a dazed Tazuna with her, Tazuna lost balance and the result was him being comically sprawled on the ground, somewhere above them, a kunai had barely missed its mark.

"Trouble, again" Naruto whispered as he wordlessly formed a shadow clone. Sasuke and Sakura stared at him in awe, not many people were actually known to do any Jutsu (apart from maybe Kawarimi) wordlessly, and this came as a slight shock to them, this shadow clone, much like Naruto was also down on the ground, waiting to spring up like a wild cat, at that moment, as much as Sakura hated to admit it, Naruto looked very cool.

The mist that they had encountered at the lake earlier, returned, this time it was denser than it had ever been, Naruto struck out his hand , and realized that he couldn't even see as far as his hand, he knew for sure that this was a jutsu, and no ordinary Jutsu at that.

In one of his clan books he had read about this form of killing, using the mist to disguise one's movements and sounds, Naruto had found the idea ingenious and it was something the legendary Seven Swordsmen seemed to excel in, it was known as the 'Silent Killing' technique, Naruto also found out that the air around them was getting heavier, it was like somebody had flared some killing intent in their direction.

Naruto saw Sasuke and Sakura stiffen, Tazuna looked like he could have pissed his pants, Naruto was awed by the fact that the so called master bridge builder (who was also drunk, judging by his antics on the boat) was still wide awake, Naruto realized that despite not being a shinobi himself, Tazuna had probably seen and felt a lot in his time, after all he had spades of life experience over Naruto and the rest of his team.

"A team of brats and a famous ninja, the copy in, Kakashi of the Sharingan" a voice called out, Sasuke and Sakura flinched at it, Naruto couldn't help but notice the eerie similarities that this voice had to Kurama's or even his own 'Sword's'

The mist cleared, not by much, but by enough that Naruto could make out a man, and the outline of what he could only describe as a cleaver strapped to this man's back. The face seemed bandaged, based on the muffled sound that this man had made and to Naruto's amusement, he did not have any eyebrows. Naruto felt that he had seen this man before, Kakashi answered his doubts.

"Zabuza Momoichi" Kakashi said, "Demon Of The Hidden Mist". The air was silent, no one was making a sound, you could probably hear a pin drop, the only sound that was actually decipherable was the sound of Tazuna's wheezy breath that had the stink of alcohol on it, Naruto and the rest of his team, it seemed, had forgotten to take a breath, it was like they were all holding it for something to happen, something big, something, dare he say, exciting.

"Kakashi Hatake recognizes me" the man named Zabuza said, "I am so pleased right now you wouldn't believe, I thought that those eyes of yours would have made you arrogant, much like the other Uchiha's" he said. "But I guess not? Or am I right?" he asked Kakashi who shook his head.

"Unfortunately, I don't think that I resemble the Uchiha, I am a whole different kind of person you know, maybe you shouldn't be underestimating me" he said simply. Even in the mist, everyone could make out that Zabuza was smiling, a sick, twisted and demented smile worthy of someone who was a demon.

"Eight points." Zabuza's ominous voice rang from the mist. "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart." he said, Sasuke and Sakura stiffened even more. "But there is so little time" Zabuza said, almost in a whine, "Kakashi, do not waste what little I actually have, hand over the bridge builder" Zabuza said as he formed some hand seals.

**"Water Clone Jutsu****"** he said as 9 other identical Zabuza's rose from the ground, apart from Naruto who seemed unfazed, everybody else was now scared.

Kakashi sighed, he would be forced to use it now. He uncovered his mask, to reveal a red eye with tomoe, three to be precise. Sasuke gasped while Naruto seemed surprised, Sakura did not seem to have a clue as to what was going on.

Time seemed to stand still in the mist, Sasuke and Sakura could not move, until they heard what was probably the most reassuring thing they had ever heard in their short lives.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, do not panic, you are comrades, I do not leave my comrades, I will protect you." It was Kakashi, it was obvious that he would say something like that, even though the genin in his squad did not know it, Kakashi knew the pain of losing his teammates, his own sensei had sacrificed his life and one of his teammates, an Uchiha of all people would always live through him, he was in his eyes. His other teammate, the only person Kakashi had ever loved had been driven insane thanks to the torture of the war, if anyone could say things like this to his teammates and fully understand them, it was Kakashi.

"Such drivel" Zabuza said as from nowhere he vanished before slashing through Kakashi, who, dissolved. Zabuza smiled.

"Already used the Sharingan to copy my clones eh?" Zabuza said, the tinge of disdain clearly present in his voice. "God, I hate that eye, don't you realize that nothing ever beats the original?" he asked no one in particular, however if someone would strain his eyes to look into the mist and its depths, they would see Kakashi behind Zabuza, Kunai at his throat, ready to slash it in a moment's notice.

"Its over" Kakashi said to Zabuza, who laughed, even the laugh was slightly maniacal.

"No, it isn't" Zabuza said before dissolving, this had been a clone too. Another Zabuza clone emerged from the ground. Naruto groaned, it looked like he would need the eyes to keep seeing in the mist and he wanted a fight.

"How, puny" Zabuza said, turning his attention to the kids. "Are these the brats you swore you would protect Kakashi, these wannabe Ninjas?" he asked him, in a mocking tone. Kakashi glared at him. "What do these kids even know" Zabuza continued. "The sacrifices you need to make, for being what you are, a shinobi is nothing more than a tool. with one and only goal, to kill whoever the client asks to kill, in my opinion, none of you puny little brats are ninja till you make my bingo book" he said, and then began laughing, which unnerved everyone around him.

"Enough of this" Kakashi said before charging and engaging Zabuza in a taijutsu, Naruto had to admit that he had new found respect for his teacher after seeing what he had been seeing. Not only did Kakashi manage to fight his way past the impeding mist, he did so by using a Kunai to go through and try evading Zabuza's massive cleaver like sword. And Kakashi was surprisingly holding up too.

They fought for another minute, Kakashi not making any significant progress thanks to the giant cleaver that the man was carrying, stopping him in his tracks. Kakashi jumped away into the water body nearby, not noticing the wicked grin that had crept up on Zabuza's face. However Naruto did notice it, but could not make out why he had that grin, was it because of the chance to use Ninjutsu, or what was it.

"I will end this"Kakashi said. "Here and now."

Zabuza laughed, "Oh Kakashi, I am way ahead of ya" he said as the Zabuza that was speaking suddenly dissolved and another Zabuza emerged from the water, right behind where Kakashi was standing, and before Kakashi could react, a water body had surrounded him. Everybody knew what that was, **Water Prison Jutsu**, Kakashi had fallen for something really basic, and it was something Zabuza did not flinch once in pointing out.

"The man of a thousand Jutsu, done in by a technique so simple" he said laughing. "Are all you Konoha Jounin like this" he asked the genin who were now even more petrified (Sasuke and Sakura were, Naruto was still not as scared, even though Kakashi's capture had done the trick it had unnerved him)

'That was the grin on his face, it was his plan all along, and Kakashi sensei could not see it' Naruto thought. 'This guy is good.'

"Now, your turn" Zabuza said, "I won't need much to deal with you losers, a clone will be enough" the real Zabuza said, his one hand holding the water prison, Naruto realized that that was the hand that needed to be targeted. One of Zabuza's water clones stepped forward and stood facing them.

"Don't you think you shouldn't be underestimating us?" Naruto asked Zabuza, who laughed, again, the mist made it seem much more demonic than it actually was. Naruto was however, unfazed by the whole thing.

"Aren't you afraid?" he asked Naruto, "I mean come on, this is probably your first real mission, to die on your first 'real' mission is a bummer, I know many who died on their first mission ever, I killed them myself" Zabuza said, you could tell he was grinning like a madman.

"Naruto" Kakashi called out, finally gaining some sense, "This is madness, don't stay here, run away with the team, the water clones can't go too far away, don't worry about me" he said to Naruto, who scoffed. Kakashi was asking his teammates to abandon him, he had seen this all the time in the movies, however Kakashi's story wasn't gonna end in death.

"Zabuza" Naruto said, "I know that you have a comrade here, I just found out" he said. It was true, the clone he had silently created had found a masked wearing individual who had hit it with a senbon and dispelled it, thus returning its memories to Naruto. Zabuza's eyes widened, it seemed like this was the first time he was surprised today, however knowing Naruto, there would be some more.

"How could you possibly know brat" Zabuza asked Naruto who laughed, not much like a maniac but still, good enough. Naruto decided that he was going to mess with Zabuza's head and try angering him, hoping he could make a mistake so that Naruto would be able to free Kakashi without revealing much. He was already thanking his stars that Zabuza did not realize that his eyes were a dojutsu and were extremely powerful.

"What are you, the dumb demon of the mist?" Naruto asked Zabuza who looked enraged at that. "I just bluffed, you took the bait" Naruto said, lying, and watching Zabuza seethe, angry at having been outsmarted by a kid.

"You are good kid, its a shame I will have to kill you" he said. Naruto however smiled.

"Really, actually I was looking forward to having to battle that sword of yours with my own" Naruto said before taking out a sealing scroll and instantly passing some Chakra through it, thus bringing out his Sword.

Zabuza paled, it was evident that he recognized that sword, after all, it was the sword that had blown away so many Kiri shinobi with its sheer power, Zabuza could not believe it.

Kakashi and the rest of team 7 were even more surprised, since when did Naruto have a sword, Sakura was thinking about how cool Naruto had suddenly become while Sasuke was wondering if having a sword like that could help him beat Itachi, and was thinking about asking his teammate about where he could pick up one of those.

"The Sword Of The Bloody Butterfly" Zabuza said, "That was in the possession of Takeshi Uzumaki brat, there is no way something so majestic could come into your hands, and anyway, what do you know about handling a nodachi?" Zabuza asked him, mockingly. Naruto smiled.

_'Naruto-sama, so you finally use me, and its against the Kubikiribocho, I shall enjoy this fight, do not forget to channel Chakra, and remember that I can also be used long ranged'_ the sword said. Naruto nodded, but was amazed at the fact that Zabuza's sword was that famous, but then again, being the Demon Of The Hidden Mist came with its perks.

"Alright, but first lets get all clones out of the way, except one" Naruto said. **"Shinra Tensei**" he said as a huge invisible wave seemed to erupt and knock out all the clones, except the one on the front of the water prison, protecting the original Zabuza, who wasn't so sure now about facing the kid.

'He knocked out all the clones in a single sweep, what the hell is this guy?'

Sakura and Sasuke had similar thoughts, 'How strong is this guy, and he was the dead last too, I can't slack off' Sasuke thought.

Sakura had almost identical thoughts. 'And to think that I used to vilify him so much, I used to think he was a nobody, but by the looks of that move, only I am a nobody.'

"Enough talking, lets fight" Naruto said as he suddenly disappeared from view, thanks to high speed and reappeared just before the water clone, the clone barely got its sword up in time to defend itself from the inevitable slash of that sword. The atmosphere resounded with a huge 'clang' indicating the meeting of two swords. To the credit of Zabuza, his superior strenght ensured that he stayed steady.

'What the hell, this guy is a beast, even though he is a swordsman, he still did not move, not even a little' Naruto thought, Zabuza on the other hand was wondering if he had bitten off more than he could chew.

"What's your name boy?" he asked Naruto as they began a fierce Kenjutsu battle, Naruto not being able to dispel the clone because of its presence over water which was continuously reinforcing the clone and making sure that nothing happened to it. Zabuza was really good at it but Naruto was able to fight at Zabuza's level, he was fast gaining some respect. Sakura and Sasuke were too wide eyed at what Naruto was doing but somehow they managed to cover their client.

"I thought I wasn't good enough to be in your bingo book" Naruto said as he slashed again, Zabuza kicked him away, something that required excellent timing. Naruto recovered and decided to show him what the sword of his could do.

"Alright Zabuza, enough, I grow weary of this, time to end it." Naruto drew back his sword and channeled Chakra through it, the sword had a green tinge surrounding it.

**"Butterfly Shockwave"** he said letting out a huge slasher shaped green bolt from the sword that was headed towards Zabuza, however one Zabuza dodged it, the other was not too lucky, the slasher barely stopped close to the original Zabuza and dispelled, however the energy that was in the wave knocked over Zabuza who no longer had his hand in the prison of Kakashi.

Kakashi was now thanking his stars as he stepped away, looking a bit frazzled but otherwise unharmed, he was trained to hold his breath for longer periods of time and this was really nothing to him at all.

"Thanks Naruto, maybe next time you could listen to what I say and do that instead" Kakashi said to Naruto. Naruto looked at him and smiled.

"I don't abandon teammates, Kakashi sensei" he said simply. At that moment, Kakashi saw his best friend Obito in Naruto, and smiled.

"Okay then" Kakashi said, "Zabuza, I slipped up once, I needed that, now you will see what its like when I go at a full pace, Naruto, take a step back" he said to Naruto who groaned. "NOW" Kakashi said, sternly and Naruto obeyed, shocked by the tone in his voice.

"Okay then sensei, I leave you to him, although I would have loved to have fought this guy" Naruto said to Kakashi, his tone displayed his longing, and Kakashi was convinced that Naruto actually really wanted to fight Zabuza. Naruto was sealing his sword away as Kakashi and Zabuza looked at him, almost repulsed at the way he had effectively freed Kakashi from the confines of his prison.

'That kid made it look like it was way too easy, and on top of that, he also sensed that I am not alone, I wonder what else this kid will show'

Naruto played the part of unfazed ninja correctly, he did not seem to give a damn about what was happening, he ignored the shocked looks on Sakura and Sasuke's faces and definitely did not pay attention to Kakashi or Zabuza's stare, it was like he was in the zone, and he wanted to hurt someone, that someone being Zabuza of the Mist, or formerly of the mist.

"Now this is a total drag" Naruto said, doing his best Shikamaru impression. "But Zabuza, the right thing to do in this situation would be to walk away, you have no idea what I can do, yes there is more" Naruto said upon looking at Zabuza's eyes that were raised at that comment.

"To run away would be extremely disgraceful for someone like me. Naruto was it, tell me, do you belong to any clan, and how the hell do you have that sword in your hands, there is no way you should be able to hold it, at least not unless you are related to Takeshi and he bequeathed it to you" Zabuza said, Naruto laughed. The deductions were spot on, so Zabuza was also smart along with being psychotic and extremely dangerous.

"Nice going there genius, you figured it out" Naruto said mocking the deduction, even though it was correct. "Now I'll tell you my name, only once, and I want you to remember it, because I have a feeling that I am going into your bingo book" Naruto said smiling. Zabuza was visibly fuming, the kid was too much of a smart ass for anyone's good.

"My name" Naruto said as he formed two handseals, the atmosphere suddenly became a lot more stormy than usual. Kakashi's eyes widened at Naruto's use of a jutsu, he recognized it instantly of course, but to use only two handseals to do it, that was insane, no one he knew apart from the Nidaime was known to perform jutsu with such control that it barely required a handseal.

**"Wind Release: Tornado Of Doom"**

The atmosphere around them with storm clouds suddenly cleared as a tornado of wind came descending down on Zabuza, and captured him, it seemed to begin slicing him but Zabuza was no slouch, he had managed to substitute himself out of harm's way in such a good way that he had everyone convinced that he was done for. However Naruto noticed Zabuza escape, he also saw where he went.

"Oh not so fast" he said, but Zabuza had come out, handseals and everything.

**"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu"** Zabuza called out, and Naruto tried dodging, key word was that he tried. Naruto seemed stuck in position, not being able to do anything.

'What the fuck? I can't move' Naruto thought helplessly as a huge dragon made purely out of water and chakra came towards him. Naruto could no longer hear the screams of Kakashi (who was too far away to try pulling Naruto out of the way) and Sakura and Sasuke (who seemed concerned now) asking him to get the hell out of the way. Zabuza himself was shocked that the brat was not moving, and just then, Naruto, purely on instinct formed a handseal.

The effect was immediate, it formed a sphere of energy around him that absorbed the water dragon that had just reached him. Just absorbed everything. Naruto could not believe his luck, however he realized what had happened, his eyes were using another technique, and he realized that they allowed him to absorb ninjutsu. That was really a fearsome technique.

"What the hell?" Zabuza cried out, in shock. He could not believe that nothing had happened to the blonde brat, he had made it unscathed, a barrier had absorbed the Jutsu, what on earth was happening?

"Enough" Kakashi said, seemingly fed up, no one seemed to have noticed that Kakashi was taking the advantage the moment had presented him and had formed a huge water dragon that rivaled Zabuza's and had sent it right back at him. The last thing Zabuza remembered was being knocked unconscious due to hitting a tree.

And soon enough, Kakashi had the handseals done, his hand seemed to crackle with electricity, the target was a floating in and out of consciousness Zabuza, however before he could do anything, a senbon struck Zabuza, who was dead.

A person in a hunter nin mask was standing among the trees and charged towards Zabuza and got there in an instant. Recognition passed Naruto's face as he knew where he had seen the person before.

"Stop" he called out, rushing towards the nin but the ninja had taken Zabuza's body and disappeared.

Naruto turned around to see an angry Kakashi looking at him.

"We need to talk."

-x-

"What the hell were you thinking, not only did you disobey me when I asked you to run, you also jumped into a battle I told you to stay away from, I thought you were smarter than that Naruto, what the hell is wrong with you?" Kakashi asked him. They were at Tazuna's house, where they were greeted by Tazuna's attractive (to Kakashi) daughter and a really moody grandson that no one seemed to know how to behave with.

Inari apparently, ever since his father's death was really fragile. Being around him was akin to walking on eggshells and no one wanted to deal with that kind of thing. On the other hand Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter was an attractive young woman who had already seen enough trouble to last a civilian a lifetime, Naruto's heart sunk when he realized that the father Inari had lost was actually Kaiza, Tazuna then told them about Kaiza's tale and how he was publicly humiliated by Gato, and how Inari was never the same.

Kakashi had put off all discussions about Naruto's actions on the battlefield for later, and now at night, when Sakura was not present (she was in the other room) and Sasuke was only pretending to be asleep, the two were talking.

"Wake up Sasuke, don't insult me by pretending to be asleep, you need to hear this, because I doubt Sakura would do something like this, you on the other hand I don't trust" Kakashi said. Sasuke gulped, partly out of amazement that his acting had been caught, he needed to work on that a little bit more.

"Power is supposed to be used responsibly, and what the hell were you thinking not trying to dodge the water dragon, do you have any idea what could have happened, do you have a clue?" Kakashi asked Naruto. Naruto nodded.

"I was stuck Sensei, you know, these eyes, they do that whenever I discover something new happening, and did you really expect us to abandon you?" he asked Kakashi, who softened upon hearing this, though he remained a bit stern, telling Sasuke and Naruto that they needed to be stronger because the next time they would face Zabuza, he would have his accomplice with him.

Kakashi had then left, leaving Sasuke and Naruto in the room all alone. Sasuke was staring at Naruto, which was causing Naruto to fidget.

"Sasuke" Naruto said, "Are you in love with me or something, quit staring at me like that" he said to Sasuke, who looked pissed off when Naruto raised doubts on his sexuality.

"Naruto, I need a sword like yours, where do you think I can find one?" he asked Naruto. Naruto raised his eyebrow.

"I thought you were gonna ask me for mine, or demand it" he said to Sasuke, this was exactly what Naruto felt would have happened. Sasuke however looked puzzled.

"You know, I am proud that I am Uchiha and everything, and I do think that my clan was the best, I really don't think I should be allowed to have whatever I want" Sasuke said, "We aren't that influential, no one is" he said. Naruto nodded smiling.

"Well, to tell you where to get a sword like that, well this one was my grandfather's, I can't tell you where I got it since I don't know" Naruto said lying. "But I can tell you that if you deserve a sword, you will get one" Naruto said to him. Sasuke looked puzzled at Naruto.

"Sasuke, I know you wanna kill your brother" Naruto said, "But I need you to consider the cycle of revenge, you see, revenge will only beget revenge, you won't be satisfied once you do kill him, which I know you will" Naruto said, causing Sasuke to smile at Naruto's confidence in him.

"I need you to know that if we remain a team, we want to be there helping you do it, there is no shame in asking for help" Naruto said. Sasuke looked at Naruto, wondering where this was all coming from.

"Anyway, sweet dreams, I gotta go hit the hay" Naruto said as he jumped into his bed. Sasuke continued staring at him.

'This guy is weird'

-x-

"Today we are going to learn how to climb a tree" Kakashi said to the assembled team seven in the forest, they had made it there after eating a breakfast and trying to ward off Kakashi from flirting with Tsunami thorough out it. Now they were in the forest and Kakashi had asked them to be more ready to face Zabuza and his accomplice, and decided to do so by teaching them-

"Tree climbing?" Sakura asked Kakashi, "But sensei, we already know how to climb trees" Sakura said, scratching her head in puzzlement while Sasuke, who was definitely considering this to be a total waste of his time nodded.

"He means without your hands, look" Naruto said before walking up the tree and walking right back down. Kakashi gasped, but realized that knowing Naruto, he had probably done this a long time ago.

"Focus Chakra on your feet and try climbing the tree, its really easy, you guys will get the hang of it in no time" Naruto said before giving Sakura and Sasuke a kunai and telling them to mark their progress.

Kakashi stared at Naruto.

"You know, I would appreciate it if you let me teach my students" Kakashi said, glaring at Naruto who smirked.

"Oh come on man, I know water walking too, so why don't you sit down and read your orange book, I'll take a walk" he said to Kakashi, who smirked, realizing that this was a rare opportunity to catch up on his reading on the mission.

He sighed contently as he pulled out his book and began reading it, happy that Naruto had given him the chance to do that.

Naruto on the other hand had taken a walk and come rather far away, he was almost considering going back to his native village and checking it out one more time but realized that that would take some time. He decided that he would do pretty much nothing and just lounge about and consider this to be his free day. He sat down cross legged and began wondering about the abilities of his eyes so far, he had control over gravity, he could summon animals, he could bring people back to life and interrogate them and he could absorb Ninjutsu, he wondered what else these eyes could let him do.

Naruto found it scary but realized that he had a lot to live up to and and unknown enemy to face, his father had said that Naruto would find out in due time when his mother would meet him, but when would she meet him, it was all really unclear at this point.

**"Kit, maybe you should consider training in that Demonic Chakra now, I mean as far as I know, you can go to about three tails before giving in, we need more than that"** Kurama said to him.

Naruto nodded. 'You are right, time to get started on that' he said. He got up and was getting ready to train when he saw a beautiful looking girl walk into the clearing he was in, she looked at him and smiled.

Naruto began sweating, 'Holy shit, she is better than all girls in the academy, its scary what Ino or Sakura would do to me if they found out that I had seen a woman who I thought was prettier than them' he shuddered. He could hear the fox inside him laughing. Just then recognition struck, the girl in front of him felt familiar, and he knew just who it was.

"Hello" the girl said to him, Naruto smiled and hello-ed right back.

"Are you new here, I haven't seen you in the Wave" she said to him. Naruto did not say anything but looked at her.

"Oh but you have, didn't you manage to dispel my shadow clone with an Ice senbon?" Naruto asked her, and the girl in front of him stiffened.

"Easy" Naruto said, "You won't defeat me so easily you know, plus I don't want to take you with me, actually I do, but not in the way you think I do" Naruto said to her. The girl raised her eyebrow.

"Tell your master that I wanna cut a deal" Naruto said to her, the girl looked at him puzzled.

-x-

**Somewhere in Amekagure**

A man in an orange mask with swirls on him was on one of the tallest buildings in the village, staring impassively at the surroundings, the man was absolutely still, not moving even a little bit, just staring into the sunset. Just then, from the ground beside him rose a creature that was half black and half white, with a venus flytrap shaped thing on his head.

"Tobi" the man said to him, the orange masked person turned and nodded his head.

"What have you found Zetsu?" Tobi asked the flytrap.

"All of them are alive, one is in Konoha, one is in Suna, one is in Taki, two are in Kumo, one of them is Yagura of course, the Mizukage himself, the rest are all exiled and locations vary but they are easily traceable" Zetsu said, Tobi nodded upon hearing this, this was good news.

"What about members, I did my job, I have Nagato and his girlfriend working for me, they were hard to convince, but I did it" he said to Zetsu. "I have two more potential members, Yagura himself and Itachi Uchiha, who I helped with killing off his entire clan."

"Yagura would do something like that willingly, and what about Sasuke, I thought the plan was for him to destroy Konoha" Zetsu said to Tobi who nodded.

"It still is, but when you plan for that long, things go all south sometimes, and we need to take some precautions, Itachi needs to join us, and I know that he is working as a spy, but he will be dead long before he can actually do something to hinder our goals, why do you think I am moving so late?" Tobi asked Zetsu, who began laughing.

"Conniving, Tobi, that is just like you" Zetsu said, grinning.

"Lets hope that our old friend Orochimaru does exactly what we think he is going to do" Tobi continued.

Zetsu stared at him without saying much until Tobi spoke again. "I meant, he has to move after Sasuke and bite him, we have to make sure that he does that, and if he doesn't we need to make sure that there is backup" he said to Zetsu who nodde.

"I will go and try finding Sasori and Kakuzu, they might be interested in this organization after all" Zetsu said, and dissolved upon seeing the masked man nod.

Tobi stared at the moon that had just begun its rise.

-x-

**Phew, that was tough writing, I ended with Tobi staring at the moon , I am a genius (not)**

**Now pairings, I don't know still, keep sending your suggestions about them via PM. The only thing confirmed is Naruto/Yugito (who is going to be Naruto's age)**

**Shikamaru/Temari (which is the obvious choice)**

**Some people suggested pairing Rock Lee and Sakura together, some people suggested Shino and Fu or Shino and Hinata, and frankly I am really confused, but all these pairings don't really matter that much, they barely have an effect on the main story and are like 500 words of fluff so I will leave time to decide the pairings, keep sending in your suggestions.**

**Now about the story itself, my college starts soon (bummer) and the update schedule will be changed, I will update two or maximum three times a month, but I will update so do not worry about that, the updates will hopefully be as long as they are currently, maybe I will make them longer later, we'll see.**

**Also, can someone PM me with help for an Itachi Orochimaru fight, its coming up later on in the story and I don't think I will be able to write that to the best of my abilities.**

**Anyway, read and review and PM your suggestions.**

**Later.**


	8. Battle At The Bridge

**Chapter 8 is now in the books and I must say, mixed feelings for this one, I hope you guys like it, there will be a note at the bottom as usual.**

**Now, did anybody read Naruto 591, WTF was that man? I have to say I expected the ending, but I wonder what will put Madara Uchiha down, or if anything will? I just had a great time travel fic idea upon reading that. Now for the disclaimer.**

**NARUTO IS NOT MINE, I WISH IT WAS.**

"You wanna cut a deal?" Haku asked Naruto, incredulous that the blonde ninja would even suggest something like that to her, she and her master Zabuza had no reason whatsoever to accept whatever Naruto had to say to them. Naruto merely nodded, ignoring the disbelief in Haku's voice, it seemed like he was pretty desperate.

"I know about your defection, I know about your bloodline purges in Kiri and I know about your clan, the Yuki clan, well known for their Ice release techniques" Naruto said, "I think we can help each other here, plus I know about people like Gato, and I know that he is just wating to screw you over when there is nothing you can do about it, so how about it, will you shake my hand" Naruto said before extending his right hand towards Haku, who looked at it like it was an animal in the zoo.

"No, I cannot trust you" she said simply. Naruto smiled, shaking his head.

"I knew it wouldn't be so easy, but I can be very persuasive" Naruto said smiling, and was puzzled when he saw Haku blushing.

'What the hell? Why is she blushing' Naruto thought to himself, his puzzlement increasing with every passing second. Haku recovered quickly though.

"What do you mean by that?" Haku asked Naruto, who looked at her like she was not from this planet.

"Well, maybe I should tell you what I can do, but you already know, the way I thrashed your master around like he was a nobody" Naruto said, sounding more smug than he had hoped to come off while saying that. "Plus, you know I can kill you right now and then who will go and wake up Master Zabuza eh? I am sure Gato will pay no attention before finishing you off and get his job done for free, do you know how much you guys charge him?" Naruto asked her, her eyes widened, both of them knew that she was in no condition to take him on right now, she did not have her senbon and she did not want to show off her bloodline, but maybe she would have to bring it out right about now.

"Now, Konoha is the place both of you wanna go to, they respect bloodlines, unlike your Mizukage and you will be welcomed with open arms you know, Zabuza can finally have a place to call home and you can be with him." He said.

"Can you prove that Gato will kill us?" Haku asked Naruto, "I mean you could be lying for all I know and I don't wanna be the one to lead my master to his death thanks to you and your treacherous ways" she said, upon hearing this, Naruto began laughing loudly, like a crazy person and Haku began staring at him, almost scared.

"Fine" Naruto said, pausing, see for yourself, Gato is not too far away and maybe, just maybe he can be scheming against you guys, you know, I know where he is right now" Naruto said casually, Haku looked at him, curious as to how he found out where the shipping magnate was, Naruto just shrugged when she asked him. Haku decided that following him was worth a shot.

Naruto was smirking, he had gotten extremely lucky.

**Flashback**

It was three hours before Naruto had met with Haku, and Kakashi an d Naruto were having a conversation about her, although they did not know who it was till then.

"I have my shadow clones you know, they are combing the whole goddamn place, they will find the accomplice and then tail him, and I will try talking to him, because I know that they have good intentions, I know Gato is going to double cross them, I will prove it to them and all the fighting will be avoided" Naruto said to Kakashi, who was doubtful whether Zabuza and his apprentice would switch allegiance and come without a fight.

Kakashi had asked Naruto if establishing a friendship was what they should do in a situation like this, and Naruto agreed, he said that peace was all that mattered and Naruto needed friends so that he could hope to someday establish that peace. Kakashi sighed and reluctantly agreed, meanwhile some of Naruto's clones had discovered Gato and one of them had dispelled, thus alerting Naruto to his whereabouts. A local gambling place that Gato and his cronies had established from the money they had taken from the Wave.

However they had not found Haku, she was hidden, Naruto had found her by pure luck.

**End Flashback.**

It was a really murky place and the whole air smelled of alcohol, Haku frowned as her nose crinkled in disgust, Naruto on the other hand found the smell of Sake really appealing, maybe he would try it someday, of course there was no time for this. Both of them were disguised as two of the bandits (who Naruto had knocked out at the entrance and disposed of). The plan was for Naruto to approach as a ninja who was after Zabuza and Haku who would be hidden would be listening in.

However they found out that Gato had just left, Naruto groaned, pissed off that his plans were going awry, however he was lucky (as usual) when he found out that they were not that far off, Naruto and Haku both took off, hopping trees until they found Gato and his men in a clearing close by. They had taken a shortcut through the forest and Naruto looked at what the men were doing, his face paled as he saw all of them surrounding a woman, who was half naked. It was obvious what was happening.

Naruto decided that the man who was humiliating her at the moment should not be spared, he decided that it was time to make his entrance, he looked at Haku and instructed her to remain silent, his belief in Haku's goodness was reinforced when he saw that she looked mortified at what was happening.

Naruto transformed into a normal looking person with black hair and had an intimidating air about him, Haku was awed at the fact that Naruto had transformed the aura around him and she presumed that it was one of his abilities. Naruto looked at Haku and raised his eyebrows, Haku nodded. Assuaged, Naruto decided to began moving, and using his superior speed vanished.

He reappeared behind the man who was trying to rape the woman and slashed his throat, before anything could happen, the man was dead and Naruto had his knife around Gato's throat. The man was really a midget and was already whimpering, thus showing everyone just how powerful the person was.

"Wh-Who are you" Gato asked him, he was ready to piss his pants, Naruto smirked, leaking some more killing intent, Gato and his five men were all stiffening, unable to move due to the intent in the air.

"Does not matter" Naruto said to Gato, almost a whisper, he then looked at the woman, who was crying her tears hitting the ground. "Go" he said to her, the woman obeyed and got away, none of the bandits could say anything. Naruto paused and waited for her to be out of their sights.

"I hate rapists" he said when he saw Gato looking at the dead body of the henchman. Gato paled, he was worried that it would happen to him as well and he did not like that at all.

"What do you want?" Gato asked him, fear in his voice. Naruto smiled, he hoped that this would work.

"I heard that you employed Zabuza Momochi, now I do not like Zabuza Momochi very much, and I do not like the people who hire him too, so tell me, give me a reason as to why I do not kill you and your stupid little cronies where you stand" he said, leaking some more killing intent.

Gato was not stammering. "I-Its not like that, whoever you are, I plan to dispose of him once my job is done, as a matter of fact, if you want, I can tell you where he is, right now, I hired him and his lodgings are in my place, I will tell you, kill him, I will give you lots of money as well, I was going to kill him, honest" he said to Naruto, begging for his life.

"Okay" Naruto said, "I believe you, you seem to be telling the truth, Zabuza should be dead in a fortnight, because if he isn't" Naruto said before vanishing and reappearing behind another henchman who hit the floor, dead.

"That's going to be you, now get lost" he said to Gato, who looked happy to be out of there, Naruto waited till the magnate and his three henchmen were out of their sights, that's when Haku descended from the tree she was hiding in it.

"Happy?" he asked Haku, who looked nothing but. She was looking at the dead bodies, obviously not very happy with what was going on.

"Did they have to die, did you have to kill them?" Haku asked Naruto, it was clear that she did not enjoy killing at all. Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"I have killed before, plus are you telling me they did not deserve it?" he asked Haku. "These scumbags will always disrupt peace, plus that woman was precious to someone, I couldn't let her be insulted like that, they deserved to die" he said, before spitting at the body of one of the bandits.

"Now listen to me Haku, I am strong, you can see that, I can kill you effortlessly, however convince your master, tell him that he can join us in Konoha, where he will be happy, and you will not be hunted down, can you do that?" he asked her. Haku nodded.

"Good." Naruto said to her, "Now you should be on your way, go heal Zabuza, and meet me in the same place tomorrow, alright?" he asked Haku, who nodded.

"Why help us?" Haku asked Naruto before he could Shunshin away, Naruto looked at her and shrigged, "I know you, I could sense the goodness about you, even Zabuza was not very fond of killing us, you were on a job, and I know the person who hired you was despicable, I knew you would be double crossed, no wonder I had my clones track you, although they could not locate you, I guess its a good thing that we ran into each other eh?" he said to her, and watched her eyes widen.

"Plus, there are some other selfish reasons" he said before bringing both his hands together and focusing Chakra, Haku'e wide eyes went wider when she saw what Naruto was actually doing, he had formed a block of ice. Haku stumbled as she took a step back, was Naruto a relative?

"Bye" Naruto said to her before Shunshining away.

-x-

"It worked" Naruto said to Kakashi, it had been two days since Naruto had convinced Haku, and she had taken Naruto to their hideout where he had met with Zabuza, his conversation with Zabuza had gone the same way as it had with Haku, Zabuza was angered that Gato would dishonor their pact in such a manner, and agreed, they decided to finish Gato for once and for all, and Zabuza decided that at least for a while, he would come to Konoha, despite what it looked like, Haku was like his daughter and he had wanted her to be safe, and he agreed that Konoha would be the safest of the villages, and she would be accepted because she wasn't a missing nin like him.

Kakashi smiled, Naruto's charisma had come from his father, both of them had an air about them that made you think that they knew what they were doing, even though they probably didn't.

"To convince Gato we will fight, Zabuza wanted to try defeating me again, it will be a harmless spar, he will take on you first, while Haku wants to see if my ice 'bloodline' is as good as hers, and she wants to see what I can do with it. Keep Sasuke and Sakura in the dark, we might be able to hide our abilites, however Sakura and Sasuke might give it away, and while I hate lying to them, it has to be done to them" he said to Kakashi, who nodded.

"Fine, I will train them, you wanna help out?" he asked Naruto who nodded.

"Yeah, Sakura can use some basic Genjutsu I guess, maybe you should have Kurenai teach her when we do get back from this mission, you can train Sasuke in some fire jutsu before he unlocks the Sharingan." he said to Kakashi, who nodded.

An hour later they found themselves in the clearing, Naruto had been instructing Sakura in doing some basic Genjutsu, today he was teach her **Flower Petal Escape Technique** which could help hide Tazuna and herself if she was threatened, much to Naruto's delight, Sakura's perfect chakra control had caused her to get a hang of that technique relatively easily.

Sasuke was being taught the **Exploding Flame Shots** by Kakashi, Sasuke had an affinity for fire and lightening (every Uchiha had fire release while Sasuke also had lightening), however Kakashi was not teaching Sasuke the **Chidori** yet, he wanted to wait for a while, so they had to settle for this technique.

Naruto smiled, their training was coming along nicely, they would be able to put up a nice fight and impress Zabuza, he couldn't however, wait to see the look on Gato's face when he would realize that he was played.

-x-

Itachi Uchiha sighed as he stared at the plate of Dango that he was eating, he did not want to eat much these days, his job as a spy had led him away from the one person that he loved more than anybody else in the world, his own brother.

He was in the Land Of Fruits, far far away from Konoha, and he could not help but think of the orange masked person who claimed he was Madara Uchiha, Itachi could not believe that the man, who was literally a God among men was still alive, at least that was what it seemed to be. Madara (or whoever the man was) seemed to suspect that Itachi would work as a spy for the Hokage, and Itachi was worried, he had planned to start a new organization and Itachi could possibly be recruited.

However he stopped when he began sensing a really sinister Chakra nature in the air. He knew who it belonged to.

"Orochimaru" he said, and the snake nin came out from the clearing. Itachi rose.

"What do you want?" he asked Orochimaru, who laughed.

"Your eyes"

-x-

Naruto sighed, today was the day they would battle at the bridge, it was the day of their battle (at least mock battle) against Zabuza and Haku, they were supposed to do it till Gato would show up and try killing them, that's when they would strike, according to Zabuza, Gato had been pushing Zabuza to get rid of 'the ninja brats'. Naruto had to keep up his appearance and had once again threatened Gato in his transformed (and intimidating) form for the sake of keeping up appearances.

They had to make it to the bridge soon and Naruto was feeling uneasy, he had left two clones back home to guard Tsunami and Inari, while he had made his way to the bridge. He was worried about the encounter he had had with Inari just the other day.

**Flashback**

Naruto and Sasuke had just returned from training with each other and were absolutely famished, literally gulping down everything that Tsunami had put in front of them for dinner, not caring about getting suffocated or otherwise, Inari watched all this with a look of disdain that went unnoticed by everyone. In short the mood in the house was upbeat.

"Don't worry Tazuna-san" Sakura said to the bridge builder (who was drunk again), Naruto and Sasuke and I have been training really hard and we will surely defeat Zabuza this time." she said confidently, while Naruto and Sasuke nodded, their mouths still full with the food they had just swallowed in a gulp. Kakashi and Sakura sighed at the display, Naruto and Sasuke had established a somewhat uncomfortable friendship over the past few days and both of them were similar to each other in more ways than one.

The happiness was shattered when Inari banged his hands on the table and looked at them, puzzling everyone as to why he had done that. Inari just glared at both Naruto and Sasuke.

"It's hopeless, you cannot defeat Gato" he said to both of them, "Why even try, he is stronger than all of us and your enthusiasm is going to be your downfall" he said. Sasuke and Naruto gulped down all the food they had in their mouths, Sasuke looked pissed that an eight year old kid was calling him weak while Naruto made his feelings well known.

"Wow, you seem really confident, its too bad that with an attitude like that you will never achieve anything in life" Naruto said to him. Sakura gasped, to her it seemed like Naruto had been too harsh with that statement while Sasuke merely smirked, he knew what Naruto was talking about.

"With hard work, one can achieve anything, of course I would not expect you to understand that, you only seem to run away, you are always sad, I mean what the hell would you know?" Naruto asked Inari who began shaking, with either tears or anger, but as it turned out, it was both.

"My father was a fool, died trying to play the hero, and you are a fool too, even you try being a hero, and guess what, there are no heroes, there will never be any heroes or any heroic acts, its all a shade of grey" Inari screamed, "I have had a tough life" he finished.

Naruto was about to open his mouth when he heard Sasuke (of all people in the world) speak up, and speak up he did.

"A TOUGH LIFE?" Sasuke screamed at him."My brother, the person I loved the most murdered my entire family and made me relive it several times, over and over again and told me he did it to test his powers, he ruined my life, completely shattered all hopes I had of having a normal life, and Naruto here has been attacked and hated by the village he lives in for reasons that no one knows, yet he smiles and goes on with his life, so don't give me that bullshit about having lead a tough life" Sasuke said to him before resuming his silence.

"Disgraceful, you are nothing like your father Inari, matter of fact, if I was your dad, I would be ashamed of you right now" he said to Inari, who teared up and left in a hurry.

**End Flashback**

Naruto shrugged off the encounter he had had with Inari and concentrated on what was happening in front of him right now, they were at the bridge and Zabuza and Haku had made their presence known from the mist that was enveloping the whole bridge, completely surrounding the whole area making it impossible for them to see anything whatsoever.

"Stronger than ever eh?" Naruto asked Zabuza who snorted.

"Haku was looking forward to fighting you brat, you have no chance, although I would like to know how you came to possess the Ice bloodline" he said to Naruto.

'Surprise" Naruto said to him, which caused Zabuza to snort.

"You seem to cocky kid, now go and fight her" he said to Naruto, who nodded and vanished.

Haku was meanwhile talking to Sasuke.

"You might be extremely cute, but that does not mean that I will go easy on you, because I like being on top of everything, and I shall come out on top in our encounter too" she said to Sasuke, who was blushing.

Naruto who had just appeared from nowhere saw Sasuke looking positively red faced, he had to focus a lot of chakra into his eyes to see that clearly and he was now feeling glad that he had taken that pain, because this was extremely rare. Sasuke, the emo king was blushing.

'Who the hell is this girl, and why is she so pretty' Sasuke thought to himself before stopping, and his face turning pale.

"Wait, I am not supposed to feel that way" he said loud enough for Naruto and Haku to hear him, Naruto just looked at Sasuke as though he was from another planet.

'What the hell Sasuke?" he asked Naruto. 'Haku is flirting with Sasuke, actually I think their pairing will be awesome' he thought to himself.

"Enough talk, now we fight" Haku said as she launched a senbon, Naruto moved away and so did Sasuke, who's eyes were now red colored with two tomoe in them.

"So you activated the Sharingan?" Naruto asked Sasuke. "When?"

"Yesterday night, after my outburst" Sasuke said, grinning, "I feel great, lets see how good these eyes are shall we?" he asked Naruto who nodded.

Haku suddenly appeared behind Sasuke and kicked him, however Sasuke barely got a hand to it in time. His Sharingan saving him from near disaster, while Naruto grinned appreciatively.

"You are fast" he said to Haku, who smiled, although Naruto could not see it. She then charged Naruto, who sidestepped her and made it look like he was sleeping, at least it looked that way with the ease that he was moving with. He struck out a palm at Haku, who dodged it effortlessly too.

"Not bad" he said to Haku, "Lets see what you do about this" he said as he stepped back and formed some handseals, before wordlessly sending out balls of ice at Haku, who barely dodged them.

"Nice" she said, "You have decent control over the ice, but lets see you dodge this" she said as she formed some hand seals.

**"Ice Style: Ice Disk Technique"** she called out, as there was a whizzing sound in the air, however Naruto could not see anything, and he activated his eyes, focusing some more Chakra towards his eyes when he saw almost transparent, sharp ice disks coming towards him, Sasuke, whose Sharingan had seen it all managed to pull Naruto out of the way.

"Dobe, what the hell are you doing man? Do I have to pull you out of everything like that?" he asked Naruto, who sighed in relief, he had taken this too lightly, the mist had forced him to activate his Rinnegan.

"Listen Haku, I don't care how beautiful you are, I will get you, fear my wrath" Sasuke said as Naruto looked at him, wondering if he was showboating right now.

**"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu"** he said shooting out balls of fire towards Haku, who dodged all of them, Haku substituted herself with a block of ice, which made Sasuke groan.

Meanwhile Kakashi and Zabuza were involved in a fierce battle (or spar), Zabuza had to admit that Kakashi was a really, really talented shinobi, who was holding his own against Zabuza.

"You are good, maybe your students are as good as you are?" he asked Kakashi.

"Don't underestimate them, that might just be the last thing you do" he said to Zabuza, who laughed.

"The blondie is fearsome, I will admit, but I don't think he is too experienced, he is a little too naive for my tastes" Zabuza said as his Cleaver clashed with Kakashi, who turned out to be a shadow clone.

"Are you taking advantage of his naivety?" Kakashi asked Zabuza, he had just materialized behind him and had a Kunai to Zabuza's throat, he wasn't slashing, he was not supposed to.

"Nah" Zabuza said before dissolving into water, it was a water lone, and Kakashi sighed, berating himself for thinking that he had won already, however he dodged in time, avoiding a giant sword slashing, he began sweating, Zabuza was really good.

"So why join us?" Kakashi asked Zabuza, who sort of shrugged, both of them were standing at a distance.

"Look, I love Haku okay, like a daughter, I took her in and raised her to be a tool, but I realized that she'd won me over, she changed my heart, and I am tired of putting her in danger like this, I know that she will be safe there, I am doing this for her, I want her to have a great life" Zabuza said as Kakashi looked on, shocked at what Zabuza had just said.

"Plus she thinks that the black haired kid is cute" he said to Kakashi, who sweatdropped.

'She should join the club' Kakashi thought.

"Enough of this sappy bullshit, let's fight now" Zabuza said as he charged Kakashi again.

-x-

**Half an Hour later.**

"Alright, Haku, its time" Naruto said, they were trapped in Haku's **Demonic Ice Mirrors** and Naruto was sorely tempted to use the Preta Path and absorb the Ice needles, but he didn't want to. Sasuke too was looking a little worse for wear.

"Sasuke, Inari seems to have got our message, he is gathering the villagers, Gato is on his way now" he said to Sasuke who looked puzzled. He suddenly noticed that the mirrors around him had melted away and Naruto had a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Relax, I'll tell you about it, focus, she's on our side" he said to her. Zabuza and Kakashi had both made their way towards where they all were.

"Alright, Zabuza, you lost the spar, so you can act like you are injured" he said to Zabuza, who snorted, obviously not happy with the whole arangement.

"Sasuke, act like you are seriously hurt" Naruto said to Sasuke, who looked at him puzzled.

"Why?" he asked Naruto, who shrugged. Sasuke shook his head.

"No way, I am not acting injured, you act injured, or tell Haku" he said to Naruto.

Meanwhile Sakura, who was hidden all the time by a genjutsu along with Tazuna had just shown up, puzzled beyond belief.

"Hey, what's going on here, why are we all standing" She asked them, Tazuna looked curious too, "Has the battle stopped, sensei, why are we with the enemies right now?" she asked him, Kakashi shrugged.

"Tell Sakura to act hurt, its the most believable outcome" Sasuke said to Naruto, who glared at him, but Haku solved the problem, by kicking him in the groin. Really hard.

Sasuke cried out in pain as he doubled over clutching his stomach. "Why?" he wheezed out.

"That was for being a jerk" Haku said to Sasuke, Sakura was seething at what Haku had just done, meanwhile Zabuza had also lied down on the ground, waiting for Gato to show up, and sure enough, he did.

"Demon of the hidden mist eh? You don't seem too special Zabuza, I mean you were defeated by kids" Gatp said, he had shown up with fifty mercenaries. Gato then set his sights on Haku.

"Ah, the hot bitch that you carry with you eh? You know, I want her" he said looking at Haku who was kneeling down on the ground beside Zabuza, acting like she was healing his wounds and looking really injuted.

"You were right" Zabuza said to Naruto., who nodded, Gato on the other hand ignored the whole exchange, he went on with his tirade.

"Maybe she will make a great whore, oh wait, I will rape her and kill her, and Tazuna, your daughter will be a whore for sure" Gato said before giggling. Naruto began shaking with anticipation, Gato was gonna be screwed. Sasuke on the other hand was looking really pissed off right about now.

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU FUZZBAG" he shouted, albeit too dramatically, Naruto groaned, Sasuke wouldn't make a great actor.

"As if a kid can tell me what to do" he said to Sasuke, "You like the whore, well, maybe I'll do it in front of you" he said laughing as his mercenaries laughed along with him.

"I would like to see you try" Zabuza said as he got up, giving up the act, looking as fresh as ever, Haku got up too, and Naruto fromed fifty shadow clones.

Gato paled, the look in his eyes was similar to what many people look like when they see their deaths approaching.

"It was all an act" Zabuza said as he charged towards Gato, who was paralyzed with fear.

Five bloody minutes later, it was all over.

-x-

Inari and the villagers had shown up later, Inari had managed to gather the support of all the villagers and this had gained looks of appreciation from Naruto and of all people Sasuke.

Naruto also found out that Zabuza had no intention of joining Konoha.

"Why stay a missing nin? Come on, you said Haku was your daughter, don't you wanna be with her?" Naruto asked him. Zabuza sighed.

"I would love too Naruto, but I have a job to do, I have to gather support for the rebellion, please, take Haku with you and take care of her" he said to Kakashi, who nodded.

"Zabuza-sama, please, I shall come with you" Haku said to Zabuza, who refused.

"Haku, I order you to go to Konoha and lead a good life, just tell the Hokage that I might visit and that I won't kill any Konoha ninja if I find them" he said to her, she nodded.

"I'll miss you" she said to him, tearing up. Naruto was pretty sure that Zabuza was also about to cry.

"I don't deserve you Haku" Zabuza said to her, as he smiled. "Well, I'll be on my way, take care, and once the rebellion is successful, I will visit you" he said to her, Haku nodded.

Zabuza then Shunshined away as Haku broke down in tears.

The next week was spent completing the bridge, the villagers, bolstered by Inari and Tazuna had began working hard at completing the bridge. Haku and Sasuke spent that time together, much to Sakura's chagrin, she couldn't believe that Sasuke liked Haku, while Naruto could not believe that Sasuke liked girls.

"Can you believe them?" Sakura asked Naruto. "I worked so hard to impress him and he starts liking Haku of all people" she said to Naruto who nodded.

"Yeah, I know right, I thought he had a thing for Kiba" he said as Sakura realized what that meant, and she was not happy.

"Don't insult Sasuke-kun" she said to Naruto as she tried beating him up.

-x-

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, it was another day at the village, another one filled with paperwork, and he hated to say it, but he missed Naruto, the boisterous blonde had made things entertaining, but now there was none of that. However things were getting more interesting. He sensed someone was in the room, and it was not ANBU.

"Itachi-kun" Sarutobi said. "How nice of you to show up" he said as Itachi emerged from the shadows.

"I knocked out Kotetsu and Izumo, I hope you don't mind" he said to Sarutobi, "Your ANBU are knocked out too" he said as he took a seat.

"That scares me" Sarutobi replied, "So, I thought you wouldn't show up in the village for a long long time, so what happened?"

"Orochimaru is coming after my brother, his sights are on the Sharingan, and he wants to invade Konoha" Itachi said as Sarutobi paled, this was not good news at all.

"He came after my eyes, but I managed to escape, don't ask me how, I am sure he will go after Sasuke next" he said to Sarutobi.

-x-

"This is bad Tobi" Zetsu said to the orange masked person.

"Orochimaru moved after Itachi and gave away his plan, and now Itachi could be in Konoha, this is not good" Tobi said to himself.

"Look for someone else then, Itachi is a lost cause"

Zetsu nodded as he dissolved in the ground.

-x-

**Now obviously things are different, they will be explained in due time, but for now, I will pull the drapes off one by one, so that is all you need to know.**

**Sasuke is a good guy in this fic, and he is smitten, when do you think he and Haku will get together, and what will Sakura do, I am curious.**

**I had also wanted Zabuza to come to Konoha but then decided that its better if Haku alone made it there, Zabuza will not appear in the story for quite some time now, but he will come back again.**

**I have finished building up the first part of the story, Tobi will not make appearances for some time now, like I said, Akatsuki will be formed three years later and will move for Naruto much later, so I don't have to worry about that now.**

**Next is the Chunin exams, I will also set the stage for Shika Tema in that chapter, at least I hope I will.**

**So expect the next chapter in the second week of July.**

**Later.**


	9. Road To The Chunin Exams

**FINALLY..I HAVE COME BACK TO FANFICTION**

**Sorry guys, but the last two weeks have been hectic for me, and this chapter came out rushed, but I had to get it out. I had told you that my updates would now be irregular, you can probably expect one every two weeks or so.**

**Now my story has made me feel happy, 31,000 hits is not bad at all, plus a 150 odd reviews, I guess it makes me want to continue the story, now there is something I would love to say to a couple of reviewers.**

**Noshadowone- Yeah, I know, your PM is turned off, which is fucking stupid, at least turn it on so that I can answer you. You seemed to have a problem with Naruto being godlike and other enemies being stronger, I think I mentioned Godlike Naruto in the summary, so why read it if you have a problem. Also he had a problem with Naruto's activation of the Rinnegan, which needs a life threatening situation to activate, so how do you suggest I would have done it, oh I know, I would have gotten a Pikachu to attack Naruto..right? And I'm not saying that that is the only way to do it, if you have original ways, then good, tell me about them in the review, or WRITE A STORY yourself. You also had a problem with Sasuke fangirl Sakura at the age of Seven, I guess you did not read the manga or something, I'm pretty sure girls in Japan are not raised with the idea that boys have cooties, that was bullshit. You also stopped reading just before the Sakura bashing ended, which made me LOL so hard that I fell out of my chair. Well, sorry. Thanks for your review. I might sound a bit peeved, and I am, cause you did not turn on the PM system, such things are best left private dontcha think?**

**imsabbel (or something like that)- In your review, you said that Naruto would discover everything Nagato did before he turned ten. Read again, I guess you guessed wrong. Sorry bro, I put this up cause you did not respond to the PM I sent ya.**

**Also, another guy who left me a review saying I spelled Shunshin wrong throughout the fic, I basically spelled it Sunshine, and that was stupid of me. Thanks bro, I will keep it in mind from now on.**

**Now to the other reviewers, you guys are awesome, even the negative reviews that noshadowone left me actually gave me an idea, so I am glad to noshadowone, and I wanna tell him/her that this was not personal, I just had to put it up here. **

**Other people leaving a review, please turn on your PM, so that I can at least thank you for a review if I have nothing nice to say. (I always have something nice to say)**

**So, now this chapter is just a set up for one big confrontation, and not what I had planned. I also fought through writers block for this bitch, and I am not too happy with the result, I hope you don't find it as rushed as I did. Let me know.**

**DISCLAIMER: OVER 9000 TIMES, I have said I don't own Naruto.**

The rest of their stay at Wave was relatively tame compared to the first few weeks, Haku had decided to come along with them to Konoha and Zabuza had left in hopes of leading a successful reunion against the Bloodline Purges. Sasuke and Haku (much to the chagrin of Sakura) had hit it off, while Naruto, who was loveless was working on the bridge. His clones had devoted themselves to getting the work done and he was also working his summon creatures and using them as load bearers and what not. Kakashi just relaxed and read his dirty smut and tried flirting with Tsunami while all this was happening.

Naruto Sasuke and Inari had also become quite close to each other all the while as they just hung out and trained (at least Naruto and Sasuke did while Inari just watched them do it). After two weeks, the bridge was finally finished and it was time to name the bridge, and the whole village was gathered to see off the shinobi who had saved their land from tyranny and freed them.

"This bridge is spectacular, but what will we call it?" Tazuna asked the whole village as the shinobi were leaving.

"Hey, its all thanks to Konoha that we escaped this predicament we were in, maybe we should call it the Great Konoha bridge?" Inari asked Tazuna, he was met with the approval of the citizens of the village and Tazuna smiled.

"You are right, it is decided then, this is the Great Konoha Bridge" he said as the denizens cheered while Team 7 looked on awkwardly. Haku was just smiling.

As they were on the way back to the village, Kakashi sighed.

"They should have called it the Great Kakashi Bridge, or the Great Icha Icha Bridge" he said sighing again.

"Everybody shook their heads and stared at Kakashi while Haku merely smiled.

-x-

"Stop smiling"

"You talking to me?"

This was probably what Sasuke and Haku said together the whole time on the way back, Haku had a smile on her face and Sasuke was determined to make her stop that smiling, while Haku was unfazed and continued doing so uninhibited. Naruto and Kakashi observed this with amused looks on their faces while Sakura just did not look happy. They were walking ahead of a bickering Sasuke and Haku.

"What does he see in her?" Sakura asked Naruto, there was a look of hurt in her eyes and Naruto felt bad seeing her, he knew why they attracted each other or at least why Haku attracted Sasuke, but he did not have the heart to tell her.

"I don't know" he lied, hopefully she would buy it and be on her way, but she didn't.

"Don't lie, I'm sure you found out, you are intelligent, plus the last two weeks you were exclusively with Sasuke, he could have told you, so tell me why he likes her?" she asked him, a look of pleading in her eyes.

"He likes her cause she is strong" Naruto said as Sakura's eyes widened.

"But you beat her, how can she be so strong?" she asked him, Naruto laughed, enough to not draw attention to the rest of the team behind them.

"Cute, but I did not defeat her, we were at a stalemate when Gato showed up, anyway I wanted to hold back and see the powers of her Ice Manipulation" Naruto said defending himself.

"Missing the point Naruto" Sakura said to him as Naruto shrugged.

"I know why he doesn't like me, cause I am a weakling" Sakura said bitterly as Naruto walked on. This caused him to stop and turn back.

'Don't ever say that to anyone, just train and train till you realize that you are strong, and then after that is done, train again and get stronger" he said to her.

Kakashi who had overheard this conversation smiled, it reached his eyes. He loved it when his team came together like that, it made him feel like a father

"You are right" Sakura said as Kakashi stopped smiling and listened in on the conversation. "It's nothing bad, I will train and become as strong as Sasuke and stronger than Haku, then he will chose me" she said to Naruto who smiled.

'Or you could grow a pair of breasts that rival Tsunade's and shove them in his face' Naruto thought, smiling and turning a slight red.

'Two words, CLAN EFFING RESTORATION' Kakashi thought with a giggle.

"That's the spirit" Naruto said to Sakura, ignoring the fact that the giggling that Kakashi had been mentally doing had become far more vocal, actually everyone could hear it.

"Sensei, why the hell are you giggling?" Naruto asked Kakashi raising his eyebrows, which silenced him instantly.

"Never mind" Kakashi said sheepishly and perhaps far too quickly for anyone's liking.

"We are close to the village" Sasuke said suspiciously, not knowing that every single item of conversation between the rest of his team was actually revolving around him.

Every member of the team shook their head at Sasuke's obvious and justified cluelessness.

-x-

They eventually made their way back to the village and were given a day off, however Kakashi and Naruto had taken Haku along with them to the Hokage's office to see if they could find a place for her in the village as one of The ANBU or something.

They found the man in his office, almost sprawled over his desk, reading what was an orange covered book and having a red tinge on his face, all the while saying something along the lines of 'You really are my student' when Naruto and Kakashi walked in. Naruto blanched when he saw the old man indulging in porn. Haku remained expressionless, although if you would ask her, it was incredibly hard to do so.

"Reading Porn old man?" Naruto asked him incredulously, getting angrier when the Kage chuckled.

"Spare me Naruto, I am a tired old man, I have to have something to relieve the strain that is Paperwork" he said defensively.

His eyes then fell on the pretty girl, who was standing behind Kakashi and Naruto, feeling a bit shy, she could sense the great power that this person held inside him and was in awe of it," I see you brought a-" the Kage said pausing, thinking that perhaps using 'spoils of war' as an adjective would probably not be the right thing to do.

"Guest" he finished, thinking that it would be appropriate for him to say so. Naruto and Kakashi both nodded as they moved aside and let the old man properly see Haku.

"Haku Momochi" the girl said, despite feeling shy under the presence of a man stronger than her own master. The said old man just raised his eyebrows.

"Hmm, any relations to a demon of the hidden mist perhaps?" the man asked her and she nodded.

"He's my father figure, I am originally from the Yuki clan which was wiped out, however he adopted me and raised and trained me" she said.

"Perhaps" kakashi said stepping up, "You will understand better if you listen to the mission report Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked the man, who nodded before indicating all the three people to take a seat.

The next two hours were spent making a mission report to the old man.

-x-

Sasuke was staring at the family photograph, this was obviously the happier times, even his almost always stoic father was smiling, and a genuine smile, Itachi had his hands on Sasuke's hair in the photo and he (in the picture) was not impressed. As far as he knew, his brother was his favorite person in the world till he had gone the mass murderer route and killed everyone that mattered, and then stuck around to torture him.

"Why" he mused. Not much of a question, he had been asking himself a lot of this, even more ever since he had been placed in a team with people like Sakura and Naruto. He had not cared much about them, Sakura was as far he was concerned a stupid and incompetent fan girl before she had graduated, but she had begun taking all this seriously and had been accentuating the plus points she had and eliminating the negatives.

His other teammate was a total enigma to him, Naruto was kind of what he could call a close friend, and much to his surprise, probably one of his closest, like it or not, he was the rival, and it was he that Sasuke had to aspire to match up to, not his brother, the more his brother's advice of embracing the hatred in him floated around in his head, the more he considered just not doing that, he had no intention of listening to Itachi anymore.

'He killed my whole family, and I still want to do what he wants, and what does Naruto always say about revenge?' he thought, almost furious with himself. The whole idea, and they way he had decided to live his life was swiftly crashing around him, and now he wasn't so sure about it, he wasn't sure if he could take the heat, wasn't sure if he would ever hate enough, because the way it was right now, his life was better off with love in it.

"Sasuke" a soft voice, he recognized it as Sakura's called out to him and Sasuke smiled, he was almost expecting her to turn up and ask him out on another date, the melancholy of the whole damn situation needed to be broken.

"Hey Sakura" Sasuke said before turning around and looking at her. She was pretty, with that pink hair that stood out and that awfully large forehead. Sasuke smiled, maybe if she hadn't pushed him away by being so useless during the academy (no matter how talented she was now) Sasuke would have been in love with her, but as things stood, the only girl that held his attention was Haku and no one else.

"Do I have to ask you why you're here, or are you gonna tell me?" Sasuke asked her, trying to sound as polite as that statement could have sounded, Sakura seemed to realize that Sasuke had meant to be polite. She came and sat down next to him.

"Your compound is huge" she said simply, causing Sasuke to grin. It was huge, and he lived alone, that was not funny, but the topic being brought up was.

"It is isn't it?" he asked Sakura, "There were a lot of us, until-" he said before showing her the picture of Itachi, Sakura understood as she bowed her head down.

"Is revenge that important to you?" Sakura asked him, and he sighed. It was another whole minute before he answered that question.

"I'm not so sure anymore" Sasuke said, the vague answer was not going to please her and he knew it, and he was right, she did not look too satisfied at the answer given to her question.

"So, you like Haku?" she asked him, and Sasuke realized what this was. He nodded and he saw her face fall, in that moment, he felt like a total idiot for saying it, maybe he should have been more diplomatic.

"Sakura, try to understand me, you are very pretty and talented, but its not me you like" he said to her simply, hoping that it could make things better.

"What could you mean by that, how dare you say that?" Sakura asked him, agitation clear in her voice.

"I was something you looked up to, talented, good looking and having a rich heritage, and you know what, maybe I was" Sasuke said. "But lets say that we get into a relationship and you realize that you were not really in love with me, just the idea of me, how bad would that be?" he asked her. Sakura looked like she did not understand.

"Sakura, I like Haku, but you are still the closest female in my life, you are kind of like a sister to me, and I know that it must be weird" he said as he noticed Sakura blanch, "But someday you will realize that you did not love me after all, that I was a crush and that is all, and trust me, its better if we stay friends when that happens" he finished.

Sakura though on it before rising and walking away.

"Maybe you are right, but you know what? I still will grow stronger, stronger than Haku" she said as she faded away, like some kind of illusion. Sasuke sighed as he resumed pondering over the photograph in his hand.

-x-

"Are the preparations done?" The older Sarutobi asked his only student that seemed to remain loyal to the village, the said student was standing and scribbling in his book as he faced the window and the gorgeous view that it presented.

"Yes, even the cloud is coming this time, which is unheard of, this time will be tough for everyone I think" Jiraiya said to Sarutobi who nodded in agreement.

"How is Naruto doing?" Jiraiya asked, turning his attention to his student and Sarutobi smiled.

"Naruto is really talented, he has changed both Sasuke and Sakura, and for the better too" he said as Jiraiya scoffed.

'That brat always did have the talent of changing people, he is like his father in that respect" he said to Sarutobi who nodded.

"Jiraiya, I am going to retire after these exams" Sarutobi said to him and Jiraiya almost fell out the window.

"What?" he asked Sarutobi in shock, Sarutobi smiled fondly at the reaction his student displayed.

"I would pick Kakashi as my successor, but I have a feeling he will refuse, and you will too..or will you take it?" he asked Jiraiya, hoping that he would say yes.

Jiraiya shook his head in negative. "Sorry old man, I am too ill suited for that job, I hate being confined to the desk, I love my research you know, perhaps Asuma?" he asked Sarutobi who shook his head.

'We all know Asuma is deserving, but he doesn't agree, he refused before I asked him, so he's out" the old man said to his old student.

"What about Shikaku, he is intelligent enough" Jiraiya said to Hiruzen, who shook his head.

"Shikaku will find that too troublesome, I was thinking of Tsunade" he said plainly.

Jiraiya sighed. "Old man, I told you that she will never-"

"Convince her then" Sarutobi said, "Jiraiya do anything, I don't wanna do this anymore, I am sick of it, this job and this pressure, I should have retired ages ago and gone back to my painting." he said to Jiraiya, who scoffed again.

"You weren't that good anyway, I mean I did not see the greatness in the paintings" he said in a joking manner, Sarutobi laughed.

"Do it, after the exams, this will be the final two months of my job as a Hokage" he said, Jiraiya nodded.

"I will take Naruto with me, I hope that is not too problematic" Jiraiya said to the old man who nodded.

"Take him along, remember, groom him for the position, whether the civilians like it or not, he is going to be the Rokudaime Hokage" he said to Jiraiya, "It is his dream after all" he finished.

"Does Orochimaru have anything to do with this sudden mood swing?" Jiraiya asked him, and the old man nodded.

"More than you think Jiraiya-kun, either way, I'm going out, and I'm going out in style, I'll take him down with me if I have to" he said smiling.

"You are not doing any such thing old man, I will see to that" Jiraiya said to Sarutobi who sighed.

"Nothing will change my mind Jiraiya, at the end of these exams, I will finish what I should have finished all those years ago, and I will avenge all the innocents that have lost their lives" he said to Jiraiya, who turned away from the old man and resumed staring into the distance.

"Old man" he said, not needing to say much, "I can't have you do that, you are one of the closest things to a father I have you know" Jiraiya said to him affectionately, and Sarutobi smiled.

"I always underestimated you Jiraiya, and I can tell you that was a mistake, just don't do it yourself" he said to Jiraiya, who shunshined away.

-x-

"Hmm troublesome" a voice that sounded as bored as the expression itself.

"You find every damn thing troublesome Shikamaru" said Ino Yamanaka, the blonde Kunoichi had had it with the laziness of his teammate, she had tried changing his ways, but that was about as easy as getting Chouji to give up on food, and getting Chouji to give up on food was as easy as shrinking Sakura's forehead, in other words, she was doomed.

'Did I have to be on a team with these losers' she thought to herself. 'I'm too good for them, and even though I am the leader, they never ever listen to me' she sighed. They were on a D Rank mission, but it was only two people as Chouji was in the hospital, again, thanks to overeating..again. They were supposed to catch a cat that kept running away, and somehow their sensei had steered them away from a mission like that, but it was like they could avoid it no longer.

Sakura had told her about the damn cat and how it was so tough to actually catch, she wondered if she could break the time limit that Team Seven had set for themselves, but thanks to Chouji being incapacitated, that was not going to happen.

'Damn it, I lose to her again' she though to herself, she turned and looked at her lazy teammate, who wanted to be anywhere but where he was now (in the woods) and had a really bored expression on his face.

"Shikamaru, stop watching the damn clouds and catch the cat already" she shouted at him, this jolted him awake, but before long, he was back to putting on the same bored expression. Ino scowled, but her scowls were ingnored, she turned to her own sensei, who had a dreamy look on his face and could not care less about where the cat was or what it was doing.

**Two Hours Later**

Finally, they had turned in the cat, and Ino found out the reason for the cat's repeated escape, after all, if your owner itself threatened bodily harm on you, then you would probably wanna run away too, but what she was not expecting was seeing the grandson of the Hokage, Konohamaru being held high up in the air by his scarf by a man with what would be called war paint on his face and a mummy on his back.

There was also a woman, who Ino had to admit was rather attractive and like her was blonde. She had a fan on her back, she wondered looking at the headbands on the foreheads (they were from sand) if every Sand Genin (She was aware of the Chunin exams coming up) carried something heavy on their back, but before she could react to what was happening, Shikamaru had stepped up.

"Put him down, now" Shikamaru said to the boy holding Konohamaru by his scarf.

"Make me" the boy said simply, which made Shikamaru sigh and let out a small 'troublesome'.

"Well, if you don't, I'll make your sister strip" he said simply.

"WHAT?" the boy in black asked him, getting angrier by the second.

That was when the girl began shaking.

"Kan-Kankuro" she said hesitantly, as Shikamaru began making a weird mime gesture of removing his clothes, and the girl was doing it. She had taken off her fan. "Make him stop..please" she said.

"Hey, you stop that, now" the boy named Kankuro shouted at Shikamaru, "Don't do that to Temari" he said to him.

'Who's Temari?" Shikamaru asked him mockingly before mimicking the removal of a headband. Ino could have sworn that she had never seen Shikamaru use that tone before.

"My sister you idiot, look, I put the kid down" he said before doing just that. Konohamaru scampered away along with his two friends that had turned out of nowhere.

"Good, now I need assurance that I will not be harmed by the woman, otherwise more than the fan will come off" he said to Kankuro, who looked at Temari, who nodded.

"How did you do it?" she asked Shikamaru curious enough to not sound mad at all. Shikamaru looked down, and saw his shadow that had extended and latched on to Temari, she 'oohed' in realization, this was the Nara clan then, they were known for their shadow techniques.

Shikamaru sighed as he released the Jutsu and the shadow receded slowly before coming back, and in an instant Temari was close to him, and peering at him.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" she shouted at Shikamaru, who sighed, but did not look to comfortable with what was happening right now. Ino was just staring with her jaw wide open, she did not want to interrupt this moment.

"You are too troublesome, you promised not to hurt me, so you should step away" Shikamaru said sighing again, however Temari did not back down.

"You think you are so smug don't you?" she asked Shikamaru, "What if I told you I found that kinky? What would you say to that?" she asked him as Shikamaru paled.

"Wh-what?" Shikamaru, Kankuro and Ino simultaneously stuttered.

"I liked that, now what is your name?" she asked Shikamaru huskily, Ino had to admit, that would have gotten her right there. She then chastised herself for even having such thoughts, Naruto-baka had those thoughts, not her.

"Shikamaru" he whispered in Temari's ears, they were really close and Temari was blushing, what the hell was going on? The end result was a confused Ino and Kankuro, but before anything else could happen, Temari kneed Shikamaru. straight at the groin. Shikamaru staggered before falling down clutching his stomach.

"Only I get to be kinky, do you hear?" Temari asked Shikamaru before walking away and picking up her fan and headband.

"Shikamaru, are you alright?" Ino asked him concerned, however Temari just shrugged her off.

"He is fine, he's lucky that he is so cute, otherwise I would have got him harder" she said. Ino blanched, Shikamaru? Cute?

"Wow, that guy is a pathetic excuse of a ninja, to think that Raikage-sama had told us to be careful of the Konoha shinobi, they look useless to me" a new voice said .

Everybody turned and looked in that direction, the speaker was a dark skinned female, she was accompanied by another dark skinned male and a fair skinned blonde woman. The male had white hair, the dark skinned female had red hair.

Shikamaru was still clutching his stomach, and Ino just wanted to bury herself six feet under the ground to avoid the embarrassing situation.

"Karui" the dark skinned male said to the dark skinned female, "Please, maybe something will happen if we say things like that, please do not say such stuff, what if Konoha and Kumo go to war because of you?" he asked her. The girl named Karui turned red faced.

"SHUT THE HELL UP OMOI" she shouted at the male, but the blonde woman stepped in.

"Omoi, Karui, stop. Bee sensei and Darui Sensei will not be happy if they hear how we behaved" she said to Karui. The blonde had long straight hair and wore fingerless gloves, and much to the delight of the two males (excluding Omoi who was used to it) she was easy on the eyes, actually way too easy.

"Yugito, you are worse than Samui, curse her field promotion" Karui said as Omoi remained silent.

"So, even the Kumo shinobi are here eh?" Shikamaru asked, he was still sort of clutching his stomach.

"Our headbands gave us away dumbass?" Karui asked Shikamaru who sighed.

"Why does every Kunoichi I meet have to be so damn troublesome, what did I do to deserve this, what a drag" he said, and Ino again began wishing for her burial.

"Shikamaru, you always find everything way too troublesome" this was a whole new voice, and to Ino's delight, it was also familiar, even though she was not too fond of the person who it was, a known face was welcome right now, but even better when she turned and saw that there were three known faces, her best friend/rival, her crush, and Naruto.

"I wonder what your wife will do to you Shika" Naruto said, "I mean you might find the sex too troublesome as well, no?" Naruto asked Shikamaru, as Sakura began glaring at him, Sasuke was smirking, Kankuro was trying to hold in his laughter, and Temari was giggling. The Kumo nin remained silent, although Yugito began staring at Naruto.

"Wow, another Konoha Shinobi who thinks joking will get him past anything" Karui said looking at Naruto, this gained his attention, he turned and stared at Karui, before directing a burst of Killer Intent towards her. She froze in place.

A second later, Naruto was behind her and Yugito and Omoi had their kunai and sword respectively out.

"I can wipe all of you out, right now" Naruto whispered in Karui's ears, she had begun shivering in fright.

"I suggest you move away" Yugito said to Naruto, who looked at her, and their eyes met.

**"Matabi?"** the fox said, Naruto heard it, and everybody could tell that Naruto and Yugito had identical expressions right now.

"Stepping away then" Naruto said cheerfully as he moved away and removed the KI, Karui sighed in relief.

'Who is Matabi?' he asked the fox as he was walking back to where his team was, staring at him open mouthed.

**"Two Tails, but that's not all, now I can feel another one, this is Shukaku, the One Tailed, its like a Bijuu Convention"**

Naruto looked towards the trees, that was where the Chakra of Shukaku was coming from, this was turning out to be extremely interesting.

"I was coming back from receiving the Chunin Exam form with my team, and I saw Kono, he told me what happened" Naruto and Konohamaru were like brothers, Naruto called him that affectionately.

He then turned to the sand nin. "Next time, before you try to cause an international incident, you better consult your other teammate, in the trees, come out now Sandman" he called out to the trees. Everybody turned to the trees as a red haired, short boy came out, a Gourd on his back.

"Gaara of The Desert, I shall have your name now" he said to Naruto. Naruto noticed how the other sand nin had stiffened, but he was not even a little bit scared. He could tell that Sasuke, Yugito and Shikamaru were the only people right now who weren't shivering (apart from him) due to the Killer Intent that was in the air, and Naruto gave Sasuke and Shikamaru great credit for that.

"Hello there one, tell your pet Racoon that I have a Nine, Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said to Gaara, who paled. Everybody else wondered what the hell was being talked about, Temari and Kankuro realized that Naruto had already deciphered the fact that Gaara had a demon inside him.

"Mother wants your blood Uzumaki Naruto" he said, sounding every bit as menacing as he intended to, however to his shock, Naruto did not flinch.

"I don't care if its your father who wants blood, mess with me and the only blood you will get is your own, on the ground, dripping away as you count your remaining seconds, is that understood?"

Gaara was paler than he had ever been, he began rubbing the spot where there was the Kanji for 'love' on his skin.

"Temari, Kankuro, we have to leave now, lets go" Gaara said before taking the sand nin with him.

"The exams will be interesting this year eh Shika?" Naruto asked him, Shikamaru nodded. Ino continued looking wide eyed at Naruto while Sakura and Sasuke seemed used to it, she was seeing him in a new light.

"We'll meet at the exams, Two" Naruto said, it was meant for Yugito to hear, and she got the message, loud and clear.

"Sure, Nine" she said before walking away with her team.

'Two? Nine? What was that about, and they seemed like they had known each other for a while' Shikamaru thought as he mumbled a goodbye, he had to think about what had happened.

-x-

"We know Itachi, but are you ready, Sasuke won't take it well" the Hokage asked him. Itachi was staring out the window, pretty much the same way Jiraiya had been a few hours ago.

"I am" Itachi said.

'Its been a long time brother, I hope I inspired you to be stronger' Itachi thought to himself as he continued staring into the distance.

-x-

Orochimaru smiled, before breaking into fits of laughter, he would finally have his revenge, on his sensei for not picking him to be Hokage and on the village he had promised he would burn down, he also would finally get the Sharingan, maybe not from Itachi, who had gone missing, but from his little brother..Sasuke.

He would have continued laughing, but even he was not prepared for what came next.

"So, Rice country is your hidey hole eh? Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru turned towards the door, as his eyes widened in recognition.

"You?' he said, for the first time feeling scared of the man who was at his door.

-x-

**Phew, that took 10 days to write, that's how bad of a block I had for this.**

**I think the Shika Tema thing was awesome, and yeah, she did find what Shika did to her kinky, I hope you guys liked that. **

**Let me remind you that Yugito is Naruto's age in this fic, Samui was promoted but she will show up. Tell me who she should hook up with.**

**Hinata and the rest of the team will be introduced next chapter. Hinata does not have a crush on Naruto in this fic.**

**I think you all can easily guess who's that person who is on Orochimaru's doorstep. Tell me in your reviews. Remember, the more of those you leave, the more I wanna write.**

**Now on to the most important thing.**

**I love Hiruzen Sarutobi, and I hated his death, I was depressed when it happened, but now his fate in this story is in your hands, there is a poll on my profile, tell me if he should live, or die. Check it out and VOTE NOW. Poll closes in a month maybe.**

**Thanks for reading, sorry for the delay and such a rush in the chapter, I hope you liked it. There will be tons of action in the upcoming chapters guys, this had to be a breather, sorry for leaving out the part where Kakashi gives them the Chunin exam form, I hope you don't mind.**

**Later.**


	10. The First Exam

_**Okay guys, well here is ten, there is slight Shika Tema foreshadowing, and the first exam, I also resolve the cliffhanger which I left last chapter (it was well received, so thanks for that).**_

_**I have reached 175 reviews as we speak and I have 42,000 odd hits, impressive if you ask me, I want more. Sorry if the chapters at the moment feel rushed, but you know what my predicament is. There is also a recap kind of thing, to sum up what happened in the first nine chapters, narrated by Naruto.**_

* * *

_**Naruto: So Far, On Naruto: The Second Sage.**_

_**Naruto:Okay, I activated the Rinnegan because I have the Senju and the Uchiha blood in me. The Kyuubi is called Kurama and can talk to me and helps e out with stuff, I also have a sword I call sword, which is pretty stupid, but its better than the Sword Of The Butterfly. I'm on Team 7, with Sakura(who was annoying at first, but is now okay) and Sasuke (who is crazy, I think), they might be flawed, but they're my team.**_

_**We were at the Wave, where I defeated Zabuza and then struck a deal with him, together we helped over throw Gato, and Zabuza's accomplice came along for the ride. Her name is Haku, and she is pretty, she also has a fanboy. His name is Sasuke.**_

_**Back in the village, Old Man Hokage is retiring, and some conspiracies are going on. There is a guy with an orange mask..why? That is my favorite color and I'm the damn hero of the story, that's why. He is the villain, its fitting he wears orange. Orochimaru, Orange mask man, Itachi Uchiha, all of them have plans, and separate motives.**_

_**Then there's the Chunin Exams, and Shikamaru might find sex really toublesome, and Temari might find Shika's laziness kinky. There's more people with demons in their stomach than there's people with a 200 and above IQ and that is annoying.**_

_**Gaara is one of them, he wants my blood, I wonder if he's a vampire, the other's name is apparently Yugito, and I want her..wait...I did not say that, scratch that from the record Zap.**_

_**Either way, the road to the Chunin Exams is now coming to a dead end, now, its time for us to take on the real deal, and hopefully, pass.**_

_**And now, the story.**_

Ever since Naruto and his team had accepted the Chunin exams form and filled them in, preparations had been full swing, Naruto tried his hardest to ignore what was going on with Gaara and Yugito, the two Junchuriki that had arrived in Konoha, Naruto felt some sort of strange longing to get to know them better, he felt that they were one of the eight other people who could understand what it felt like to have something in you that makes people hate you for it and in general be really biased.

Yet he shuddered to think what would have happened had his father not have visited him that fateful day and told him about the fox and had the fox not helped him out, he wondered if he would turn out to be like Gaara, a person who inspired terror in his own siblings, but Naruto was more curious about Yugito.

For all he knew, she was kind of like him, from what he had seen of her, and there was not much, she was friendly with her teammates, who were also seemingly aware of her tenant, something that he was yet to tell his teammates, they had asked him what he meant by nine, and he had been generally evasive, only Pervy Sage and the old man were told about the Jinchuriki and Naruto had been promised by the Third that he would personally look into it.

Sasuke and Sakura had come along nicely, in the last few days, something had lit a metaporical fire under Sakura's ass and she worked real hard, trying to acquire not only Genjutsu but also some Medical Techniques, Kakashi thought that she was a natural at doing that and that she had potential that was equal to the Sannin, Tsunade herself.

Sasuke and Naruto had helped her out with Chakra capacity and served as sparring partners that would not hold back and go at her with all they had (Not Naruto, who would probably end up killing her if that happened).

Kakashi was pleased with how his team had come along, they were strong, Naruto was probably stronger than he let on and Sasuke was easily Chunin material, more importantly, they listened to each other and followed each other's advice, while the other teams still had some disagreements from time to time, no one had expected Kakashi's team, what with the Uchiha and his (former) Fan Girl with the Dead Last to do so good and gel together so well, but they did, and their combination worked.

The other teams had been at it too, Team 8, which had Hinata and Kiba and Shino, and was lead by Yuhi Kurenai, Asuma's girlfriend (or fuck buddy according to Anko) were also one of the more promising up and coming trackers, what with such amazing bloodlines that really aided tracking. Hinata was grounded and had good awareness of her surroundings, Shino was formidable in his own right and Kiba, though brash and arrogant and a loudmouth was strong, and there was no denying that.

Team 10 had also been catching attention, according to Asuma, who had bet around 100,000 ryo on Shikamaru becoming a Chunin and some more money on Ino and Chouji making the finals, Shikamaru was the kind of genius that came along once a generation, although he did come with a single major flaw, and that was his chronic laziness and his inability to be inspired by anything that was not life threatening to his precious people. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio however were living up to the potential and proved that there was no mistake made when they were picked, apparently, teamwork was in their genes and they were as well oiled of a unit as Team 7.

Shikamaru (much to everyone's amusement) had taken up to meeting Temari, a lot, their conversations were generally had when playing Shogi and watching clouds while Temari berated him for being so lazy. Choji and Ino had been outraged when they had seen Temari and Shikamaru together staring at clouds, Ino had told Choji about the encounter that Shikamaru had had with Temari, and had watched his jaw drop when he heard about the whole thing, and the way Ino had said him there was tension of the sexual variety between them.

Temari for her part had to ward off an angry Team Baki, Gaara was always angry but Kankuro had flat out told her that she was fraternizing with the enemy, but Temari did not care about it at all she only wanted to hang out with Shikamaru for some inexplicable reason, and the more she thought about it, the more it went over her head, she had thought that she would really hate someone as lazy as Shikamaru had turned out to be, and yet he had something about him that had attracted her to him, and she loved it, and for some reason, the impending invasion that they were going to carry out on the village seemed to be even more daunting, because deep down, Temari did not want to betray Shikamaru, she couldn't explain this line of thought, but according to her she did not need to, she did not understand what the fuss was about, and she did not care.

Then there was Team Gai, and there was one person, who more than anyone else had wanted to take on the Dead Last Naruto in a one on one battle and show him the error of his ways, and this person was Neji Hyuuga. He had been humiliated by the blonde brat, who had no talent was destined to fail. Both Rock Lee, his useless (according to him anyway) teammate and his over enthusiastic teacher Gai had tried to persuade him against ever taking on Naruto as he was more than he let on, but Neji was not willing to listen to them, he only wanted to listen to the thoughts of revenge that were inside his head, and the time for taking his revenge was coming, for he was not the only person on his list, there was another, his own family, cousin sister Hinata was also on his list.

-x-

"What the hell could you possibly want from me?" Orochimaru asked the man in front of him, who had chosen to remain in darkness and not step forward, and even though Orochimaru could clearly make out the swirling patterns on the mans orange mask, he was scared, scared of the person in front of him, and scared of what was going to happen to him. Scared for once, of death.

"Oh, is that a way to greet your superior Orochimaru, or do you forget that it is my clan's Dojutsu that you are so callously chasing, do you think it is that easy?" the man asked him, Orochimaru began sweating, he knew he could make a break for it, but to slip in here undetected was something no one had done, and the power that the man in front of him had was far too great, he would be done for.

"Look, its only for-"

"Immortality, I know" the man said, interrupting him, if this was anyone else, he would be dead, but this masked man was not anyone else, he was someone who was well known for being a prodigy, for being extremely strong, for being the one man apart from Hashirama Senju who had taken a tailed beast under his control.

"Uchiha Madara" Orochimaru said, "I do not have anything against you, the last I heard was you were looking for the tailed beasts, and I want a Sharingan, and that too Sasuke's, because Itachi is too strong, so I don't wanna have to fight" Orochimaru said to Madara, who began giggling in a shrill voice.

"Amusing indeed, for a man that wants to be immortal, you have a strange flirtatious relationship with death, I mean, having come so close could have stopped you, but even escaping Itachi with your life did not teach you anything did it?" Madara asked him?

Orochimaru grit his teeth. He did not like where this conversation was heading by the second, plus Madara's presence was irritating him, a lot more, he was almost considering fighting this person.

"I am curious though, how did you know it was me?" Madara asked Orochimaru, genuinely surprised that Orochimaru had recognized him under the mask.

"I took a shot, I knew you were not dead, and I knew that if someone had the power to do things you seem to have done, then it must be you, but frankly I don't care" Orochimaru said to him, perhaps being braver than he had though he could be, this just caused Madara to laugh, and this one was maniacal, this was the laugh of a person who had lost all sense of good and bad ages ago.

"Brave Snake man, very brave, however I would say that this is completely unwise, after all, you don't wanna be challenging me" Madara said to him in a tone that was highly condescending and mocking. Orochimaru could not grit his teeth any further while Madara was loving every minute of this conversation that was taking place right now.

"What do you want?" Orochimaru asked Madara, who laughed again and made Orochimaru feel extremely uncomfortable, and that was a huge achievement.

"Getting down to business I see, very wise Orochimaru, now here is the deal, I want you to join me" Madara said to him. Orochimaru looked at him wondering if he was joking.

"And If I refuse?" Orochimaru asked him in a slow drawl, and Madara smiled, although under the mask it was not visible.

"Simple, I will leave now, but there is no doubt that our paths will collide, by hook or by crook, and then we will be pitted against each other, and we both know who is going to win that battle, don't we?" Madara asked him arrogantly, and Orochimaru shuddered, even though it was quite boastful of the masked man to say, it was true, he really was not going to win like this, nor would he beat Madara anyway.

"There is a conflict Madara, I want the Sharingan and you know it" Orochimaru said to him, "I will not stop till I gain the Sharingan, and I will obliterate all that stands in my path, so I don't know if you are okay with that" he said to Madara who nodded.

"I don't care about Uchihas anymore, which is kind of Ironic, but they had forsaken me a long, long time ago, what I actually want is something else, but still, lets see you try shall we, if you are able to invade Konoha successfully, you can have Sasuke Uchiha, and if you don't, you can have him when I tell you to have him, and trust me when I say this, you will get a chance to have him again, this is not a final shot" Madara said to him.

Orochimaru looked pensive at what Madara had told him just now, but Madara did not want to wait around.

"I want an answer, soon" Madara said before vanishing, leaving Orochimaru to himself and his thoughts.

-x-

"What do you see in these clouds anyway?" Temari asked Shikamaru, they were staring at clouds today, something Temari had no patience for, she had hoped for a Shogi match, but Shikamaru had shrugged that idea off, instead they were watching clouds again.

"Isn't a cloud so lucky, no goals, no one to look after, no one to care for, just floating away in the sky till it rains, and then being reborn again, isn't that a very blessed life it leads" said Shikamaru, almost philosophically while Temari sweat dropped, the boy always said things like this, but this was new, it gave her insight into him, and she wanted to know about him, more than she already did.

"So, are your goals similar, to have no one to look after?" she asked him, and even though she did not realize it, there was a tone of longing in her voice, something that could tell anyone that she wanted to be someone Shikamaru cared about, however Shikamaru being the lazy person he was had missed this, even though Temari herself was surprised that something like this was coming from her own mouth, she had to slap herself mentally and remind her that Shikamaru was an enemy.

"I want a normal life" Shikamaru said to her, "I want to become a Chunin, maybe Jounin, marry a moderately pretty woman and have two kids, a guy and a girl, and retire once the girl is married, or the boy is promoted, that is all I want" Shikamaru said to her and Temari blushed.

"So, suppose it was me, would I fit your criteria for a wife?" she asked him, surprised how hopeful (and cheesy) she was sounding right now, however she only had romance novels to go by, however Shikamaru was completely oblivious to what she was doing.

"Hmm, yes, you are moderately pretty" he said, which he realized a second too late was not the right thing to say as Temari was turning red faced by the second, not from shame but from anger, she was shaking.

"Moderately Pretty?" she asked Shikamaru, and she hated to say it but it sounded like a hiss to her and this was extremely scary for Shikamaru.

"I only meant criteria wise" Shikamaru said hastily shaking his hands, "You are very beautiful actually, you might be too good for the position" he finished and Temari quieted down, causing Shikamaru to heave a sigh of relief, this was what he wanted to happen at this point in time.

"Shikamaru" Temari said, which made the boy look her in the eyes, and he realized there was something she wanted to tell him, "I wanna say something to you"

Temari was berating herself for doing this, but she realized that what she felt for the boy was more than a friendly affection, and her inner self did not want to start off this strange feeling she had for him with a lie, but Temari realized what was happening.

"I want to say-" Temari said, just as much to her fortune, Kankuro showed up, looking miffed at what was happening. He did not like his sister with Shikamaru.

"I have to go" Temari said before rushing off towards Kankuro. She had soon disappeared from Shikamaru's sight.

'That tone in her voice' Shikamaru thought. 'It sounded like someone was doing something that was necessary, ignoring the fact that it might hurt their loved ones, I have heard that one before, and I don't like it, Temari, what are you hiding?'

-x-

"Oh, I thought that this day would never ever come" Naruto said enthusiastically, Team 7 was in the building that was going to house the Chunin exams.

"Will you stay quiet?" Sakura asked Naruto, she had a headache, courtesy Ino, who had introduced her to the joys of Sake, and although she was fine and completely sober, the headache still lingered, and Sakura was worried that it would affect her exams, she had taken a tablet and had hoped that the headache would leave, it had faded but was still there like some sort of a throb.

'Well, boo hoo that you had to get drunk, and Sasuke and I had to carry you back, your mother was not happy, not happy at all" he said to her and Sakura shivered, her mother had given her a cold look today morning, showing displeasure at what she had done, she hoped that there would not be a significant backlash from her when she got back home tonight.

"Naruto, Genjutsu" Sasuke said to Naruto, pointing his finger to the door and realizing that this was indeed the second floor and not the third floor that they needed to be on. Naruto spotted Rock Lee and his team staring at the Chunin guarding the door and apparently not letting anyone through.

"Please let us pass" Tenten, the female member of Lee's team had said to the guard who was unrelenting, before Tenten shrugged and along wit Neji and Rock Lee had taken the staircase on the left, ignoring the protests of the guard who wondered if they were interested in the exams at all. Naruto smiled, well played, this was one way to throw out the undeserving, Naruto decided to do the same and Sasuke and Sakura, who had taken to Naruto being their unofficial leader had followed in his foot steps.

Soon they found themselves on the right floor, along with a lot of the candidates, and found that Team 8 had already arrived, and so had Team 10.

"I thought you were not gonna show up Sakura" Ino said to her, sounding worried about her best friend, they had resumed their friendship ever since Ino and Sakura had both realized that Sasuke liked a girl who was not one of the two and there was nothing they could do about it. Hinata and Team 8 were also standing there, Kiba was smiling at Naruto while Shikamaru looked bored, Choji was munching on chips and Shino was running his finger around his nose and looking stoic.

"So Naruto, heard about Shikamaru, apparently he is friends with that really hot Kunoichi from Suna, what do they call her, Temari?" he asked Choji, who nodded. "What I wouldn't give to have a piece of her" he said, almost drooling like a lot of the dogs did, and suddenly Naruto felt uncomfortable, as did almost everyone in the vicinity as Shikamaru of all people let lose a killer intent that scared the living piss out of everyone.

"Say that again, and I will not spare you" he said to Kiba, who 'eeped' and decided that maybe opening his big fat mouth was not the right thing to do. Sasuke and Naruto looked amused while Ino was glaring at Shikamaru, according to her, Temari was an enemy nin, she did not care about the alliance between Suna and Konoha one bit, all she did care about was her teammate, who in the past few days had become like a brother to her and she was worried that Temari was enticing him and leading him to his doom, and she did not like it.

"Can't you just stop with Temari for a second, I mean you guys were never that interested in me" Shikamaru said, again taking on that same lazy tone, completely displacing the cold tone he had used with Kiba, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they were glad to see Shikamaru return to his lazy self, however Choji was the one to break the silence.

"That's cause by yourself, you are just a lazy bum who stares at clouds" he said to Shikamaru, who sighed, muttering about troublesome friends while the rest of the Rookie Nine had laughed, however only Naruto and Sasuke noticed that the whole room, that was full of rookies was now looking at them, and most of them were anything but friendly looks, as a matter of fact, he was getting vibes of some killing intent, especially from the people who were wearing a headband with a musical note on it.

"That is Oto, it is a relatively new village, they decided to send teams for the Chunin exams this year too, hmm, I wonder why?" a new voice said, the silence had already been broken, the other teams had returned to concentrating on themselves and their comrades, this new person however was a Konoha shinobi who had a friendly look on his face was had spectacles on.

"Who in the blue hell are you?" Kiba asked this new man incredulously, causing the said man to smile.

"I heard a lot about you, Kiba Inuzuka, your loud mouth precedes your reputation as one of the strongest genin in the village" he said, which caused Kiba to growl, however in reply, the man merely smiled before extending his hand towards Kiba.

"Yakushi Kabuto, you can ask me anything you know, I am taking these exams for the seventh time" he said to the whole group of nine rookies. "I also participated as a rookie, and let me tell you, the teams aren't kind to them, at least they weren't kind to mine" he said to them.

"Seven Times?" Ino asked shocked. "Whoa you must really suck" she said, Kiba snickered while Choji let out a small grin, Kabuto just smiled.

"Hmm, to each his own, although you would be foolish to think you will be promoted so easily" Kabuto said to Ino, "It is not that easy with everyone after you, you'll see" he said to her smiling.

Ino scoffed, as did Kiba, this person, despite sounding friendly was not really saying anything friendly to him and he did not like that one bit, the dog that was sitting on his head at the moment seemed to agree with him as it yipped its disapproval of the bespectacled ninja.

"This guy seems suspicious" Naruto said to Sasuke, "I don't know why, but I have a feeling that there i something really negative about him" he told him, Sasuke merely shrugged his shoulders.

"The only thing negative about him is- well, everything" he said to Naruto who smiled before awkwardly pausing. Did Sasuke crack a joke, or at least make an attempt.

"Did you just-" he began asking Sasuke who interrupted him.

"I do have a sense of humor, its just black comedy Naruto, you won't understand" he said to Naruto, who then proceeded to flip him off, and Ino saw this, and this annoyed her.

"Don't make rude gestures towards Sasuke Kun" she said to Naruto who groaned, her fan girlism was really, really annoying.

Before he could respond, a man came into the room, said man had an intimidating tone about him and had scars on his face, and Naruto realized that this man would make a great fit in the Torture and Interrogation squad of Konoha, he looked the part, for all he knew, as long as this person did not sound like a chipmunk, he might as well have worked in that department.

"QUIET DOWN BRATS" the man bellowed, and much to Naruto's relief (and disappointment) he did not sound like a chipmunk at all, as a matter of fact, he sounded like he had seen tough times, and every bit as scary as the face he had on him, and Naruto remembered hearing about this person from Anko, this was Ibiki Morino, Anko's mentor.

"Now, I assume you are here for the Chunin exams, well I am your proctor for the first stage, my name is Ibiki Morino" he said to the crowd of genin, all of whom were silent, listening to this person in rapt attention, Naruto swore that even a breath could be heard, he wondered if everyone was holding theirs.

"Well, the first stage, we will make you real men, and make you take a written test" he said to the whole assembly in front of him, and he watched as faces fell, Naruto's fell the furthest, he was good at combat intelligence, and was probably as strong as any Jounin and yet he could not defeat the written test. Sakura looked at Naruto, worried for him as she knew that Naruto was smarter in street skills and not in bookish ones.

Sasuke however was confident, even though he himself was not that good in written exams, he had already decided that he was going to cheat, it was a dishonorable thing to do, but hell, they were Ninjas, who cared?

"Naruto, you will be fine, just take this on with a clear head okay" Sakura said to him, trying to be as reassuring as she possibly could be, and Naruto smiled, he couldn't believe that she had come so far along, he remembered way back when she was a mindless fan girl and how he had protested being teamed with her, and now she was like a sister that he never had, and he was glad for it.

"SHUT UP" Ibiki screamed as he felt the murmurs in the room begin to rise. "The rules are as follows, 45 minute test with nine questions, five minutes for each question, correct answer leads to a single point, however if you answer wrongly, you lose one point, and if you get caught cheating, you lose two points, get caught cheating five times and you and your team can get the fuck out of my exam" he said to the whole room.

"On the completion of the first nine questions, a tenth one will be given, this one will have 10 bonus points and will require 15 minutes of your time, and I will select a predetermined number of teams with the highest scores..get it?" he asked the whole room, which nodded in unison.

"Okay then, what the hell are you waiting for, get the hell in Room Seven within five minutes and collect your test papers, before that, take your numbers so that you can find out where you will be seated" he said to them as the whole room made a bustle towards the desk which was handing out numbers, Naruto noticed that no team was allowed to sit together.

'Bummer' Naruto thought as he stared at Hinata collecting her number in front of him.

He absently moved forward, waiting to receive his own placement.

-x-

'YES, I HAVE A FUCKING CHANCE' Naruto though, as much to his delight, he was placed beside Hinata, who had always been friendly to him and would help him out even during the academy, she was also quite intelligent, though not as bookish as Sakura, if he could cheat from her, he could pass, the team scores will be joined and he planned on not letting his teammates down, he could not imagine facing them if he had failed all of them because he could not answer ten stupid questions. He realized that he could also lose points if he got caught and if he was caught cheating five times, he was done, the whole team would go out.

'Wait, that does not sound right, I mean in the academy, we were never given the liberty of cheating' he thought to himself. 'So why do it now, unless they actually want us to cheat' he thought as it hit him, this was not about the test, this was about gathering information and not getting caught. This was after all a very important skill that every Shinobi needed to have and Naruto realized that this was a very clever method of testing.

He smiled as he knew what to do, he activated a henge before turning on the Rinnegan, which gave him clearer vision when he focused Chakra on the eyes, and thus allowed him to peer at other papers at a distance without much problem.

He turned around casually as he came across a candidate who was scribbling away, the answers seemed right to Naruto, and he realized what was going on, there were some plants in here, and they made for the sources of information. Soon he was on his way to copying away and passing.

He observed the surroundings around him and saw that every one had found methods to copy, they had either figured out the purpose of the test or they were just doing it out of desperation. Kiba seemed to be taking the help of his dog Akamaru who was apparently whispering the answers to him while Shino was using his bugs. Sakura seemed to have an idea as to how to solve the paper that was more difficult than what one should expect from the written test, only furthering the purpose of information gathering.

Naruto smiled, if there was anyone who was smart enough to do the test on his own, it was Sakura, she excelled at stuff like this. Sasuke seemed to be copying hand movements with his Sharingan, something that Naruto thought was highly ingenious. Ino would probably use the Mind Body Transfer technique and the others would manage. He smiled, it seemed that all his comrades from his year were well on their way to the next round.

However many others were not very lucky at all, within five minutes in the test, many people had already been ejected from the exam, along with their teammates (much to the anger of the expelled candidates) Ibiki was unrelenting and ruthlessly eliminated everyone who was caught cheating for a fifth time. Apparently there were Seventy Eight teams when this had started, now there were only Forty Five left, this turned out to be an effective weeding out process.

However Naruto was left to ponder on the weirdness of one Kabuto Yakushi, who he found to be extremely suspicious and someone not to be trusted. He had seemed friendly enough, but in a condescending way that indicated that he thought he was miles above everyone else. And Naruto, who had hidden his own talents in the academy realized that Kabuto was also hiding, but he did not know if it was some deep dark secret or ability. However Naruto found it ridiculous that Kabuto had failed seven times, something that should not happen if he was smart enough.

'Unless he is a spy, in which case its all the more likely that he is selling us out' he thought, wondering if he should use The King Of Hell and interrogate Kabuto, however quickly deciding against it, for all intents and purposes, this was just a hunch of his and he did not need to go to that extreme.

As he continued thinking about Kabuto and what to do about him, forty five minutes had already elapsed and Ibiki had taken the center stage again, before starting off

"Now, the tenth question's time is here" he said to the remaining forty seven teams that were present. "But there is a catch, you can chose to not take this question and fail, or you can chose to take this question" he said to the room, upon looking at the puzzled expressions of all the genin in the room he smiled.

"If you do take the question and answer it, you will pass, however should you get the answer wrong, you will never be able to take the Chunin exam ever again" he said to the room.

The room erupted in protests with many people asking Ibiki how he could do something so ridiculous, Ibiki just shrugged them off, however Naruto realized that the purpose behind this exam was not information gathering, but to test whether they were able to take the necessary risks and make the sacrifices that needed to be made. He decided that he needed to stay quiet while the doubtful would eliminate themselves, and he was right, almost half the room had left, deciding to try again, Naruto smiled, more would leave this way, making competition easier.

However Sakura did not seem to sure and Sasuke and Naruto both saw the doubt in her face, Hinata was also about to give up, however Naruto decided that Sakura needed to know that they believed in her and that she could do it.

"Sakura" he called out, "I trust you, Sasuke does too, don't worry, Team Seven stays together, whether as Genin or as Chunin. If they never make me a Chunin, I will still become Hokage, Sasuke will still avenge his family and you will still become the great Kunoichi you inspire to be" he said. Everybody heard this and smiled.

"Team 7 isn't the only one, Team 8 also stays together, Hinata, lets do this" Kiba said to her. Hinata gave him a weak grin while Shino was presumably smiling under his hood.

'The boy has strengthened the resolve of everyone in the room, he will one day make a fine leader, and who knows, maybe a Hokage, I can't keep this up' he thought to himself.

"Alright" he said as the last of the teams left the room, only 18 of the 78 remained.

"Well, You pass"

-x-

"Are you ready Itachi?" Sandaime asked the Uchiha, who was seated wearing a mask, his old mask, that of Weasel. Itachi nodded, he was not going to fail his brother, for him, he would do this.

"Remember, he might change his targets, you have to save the other one too" Jiraiya, who was also in the room said to Itachi.

"Yes Jiraiya sama, do not worry, I will protect all of them, Orochimaru will not have his way with them" he said, his voice resembling the voice of someone who had the strength to accomplish the high lofty goals he would set for himself.

'Orochimaru, its time, now, we finish what we started years ago' thought the old man as he sighed, before reclining in his chair.

-x-

* * *

**Phew, so that is that, Chapter 10 is in the books. I was not going to resolve the cliff hanger, but what do you know, I changed my mind again. NOw I have to tell you that you have to keep reviewing and reading my story, I hope you guys like it. I wonder if the overall quality of my chapters will improve once I obtain my laptop, but that is still a month away, now here is a rant.**

**- If you guys read my profile, you know I am a huge Christopher Nolan fan, I mean huge. So huge that I have seen everything he has made, excluding Following, which I cannot seem to find anywhere. Now The Dark Knight Rises came out and I saw it, once with my friends, and once alone, and most of them had the same reaction, they absolutely did not like the fact that it was not as good as The Dark Knight. And I wonder why they thought that anything could possibly match up to The Dark Knight and Heath Ledger. Bane is a completely different villain and needs to be acted completely differently. I won't spoil anything but check it out if you haven't seen the movie, it really is good. Probably as good as The Dark Knight, but that's just my personal opinion.**

**This leads to my second point, this proves that Hollywood can actually make proper blockbusters that actually don't insult the viewer, it proves that we do not need to make movies like Michael Bay does on a big budget, I think personally, this year, The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises prove that even on a big budget, you can make an entertaining movie, you know, something that Michael Bay has never ever done.**

**- The Second thing I have to rant on is Masashi Kishimoto bringing back Orochimaru. WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT, FIRST EVERY DEAD PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE CAME BACK, THEN ITACHI CAME BACK AND MANAGED TO STAY AND RESIST CONTROL, THEN MADARA CAME BACK, AND NOW THIS! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU KILL OROCHIMARU IF HE HAD TO COME BACK. IT SEEMS THAT OROCHIMARU IS SOME SORT OF PLOT DEVICE, LIKE HOW SOME MEN HAVE A GIRL THEY CALL WHENEVER THEY WANNA HAVE SEX (a prostitute to be politically incorrect), OROCHIMARU IS SOMEONE WHO COMES BACK WHENEVER THE PLOT SEEMS TO SLOW DOWN.**

**Although I must say, the Ten Tails Revival is interesting, lets see where this goes.**

**Anyway, this was really long, and I loved ranting about Orochimaru, that was sorta my reaction when I first read it.**

**Read and review, do not forget reviewing, I will give the 200th review (which I expect to reach hopefully by chapter 11 comes out) a cookie.**

**Later**


	11. Orochimaru

**Okay, I have mixed feelings about this chapter, it was typed in one sitting, and it might turn out awesome, or fail, badly, you tell me. Here are some things that change.**

**Thoughts will now be italicized, also, Jutsu will no longer be called out, also Orochimaru fights slightly differently from the Cannon version, but snakes are still prominent, he also has this Lord Voldemort-ish feel to his character.**

**I would go into more detail, but that comes at the bottom.**

**Nonetheless, here's my disclaimer.**

**THAT'SSSSSSSS A VERY NICE SERIES KISHIMOTO OWNS, IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF ANYTHING WERE TO HAPPEN TO IT. OR IF I WERE TO OWN IT, BUT I DON'T.**

The forest of death, the way they got here was unimportant, basically Anko Mitarashi, the girlfriend of his surrogate older brother was the proctor of the exam, and for some reason she had decided that it would be a good thing for her to cut his cheek and lick the blood off it, he wondered how Iruka was dealing with such sadistic tendencies, but he was focused on the task at hand, and that was the Heaven Scroll.

They had been told why they had passed the first test, that was because they were brave enough to take the risks that came with being a Shinobi, and then they had had their introduction with the basket of crazy that was Anko, who had given the teams that remained a scroll, either Heaven or Earth on it, they had to collect the scroll they did not have and then proceed to the tower that was in the center of the Forest of Death, and this was all to be done on a time limit, one of five days.

Naruto could not wait that long, he had to finish finding the scroll as soon as possible, and make sure that he was well rested for whatever the third test was going to be, no one had told him, but he hadn't ever asked, he knew that at some point in the exams, they would be asked to battle in a stadium, done as a means of showing off to the world the power of their young Shinobi, and also allowing the authorities to decide who would be fit for a promotion, and Naruto knew he could not rule out the possibility of this happening immediately after the five days are up, he had to be prepared.

Sakura and Sasuke were safe, he had clones to protect them, however he himself was on a scouting mission, not only for the Heaven scroll, but also for Gaara, and maybe Yugito, but mostly Gaara. The red haired kid was homicidal, to say the least, he had disturbed a lot of people, plus he seemed pretty open to the fact that he had a demon inside him, and Naruto knew that if some one was so comfortable with his demon, he would be equally comfortable being mistaken for one, or being a demon himself.

He could not let Gaara get away with anything the Jinchuriki might try, and he knew that he had to act in that order, but fortunately for him, he had a Jutsu that would help tame the monster inside Gaara, he had learnt it all the way back when he was apprehending Mizuki,

_**Flashback.**_

"Okay, lets see, there is so much I can pick up from this, thank god I have a spare scroll" he said, before forming a clone that began diligently copying all the Jutsu in a scroll that Naruto would keep for himself.

"What the hell is this?" Naruto thought looking at one of the techniques. **Wood Style: Sanctuary Enlightenment Enclosing Palm**, what is this thing?"

**"That kit is what Hashirama used to control the tailed beasts, I think it will be useful if you learn it"** the voice of the fox boomed.

_**End**_ **Flashback**

How could he have forgotten that day, it was the day he had almost lost Iruka, it was the day he had discovered that he could bring people back from the dead, but he knew that it would cost him almost all his Chakra to do so, he hoped that someday he would be skilled enough to bring all of them back and make sure no one ever died, but that was a long time away, and he was not gonna spend that time wishing for things to happen, he was gonna make them happen, some way or the other.

_Okay, I do not see anyone here, not even Gaara, I hope that he has not taken any lives yet, if I know him, there is a chance of him doing something drastic and I do not want that happening,_ he thought to himself.

He had been going on for quite a while now, when something happened, he received a memory he did not like, not even a bit.

_Holy shit..how, it can't be._

-x-

Sasuke and Sakura were on their way to the central tower with a single Naruto clone, and some others that were on but well hidden from sight, Sasuke hoped that Naruto would return quickly as he had seen something that he didn't want to just a few minutes earlier.

It was a team that had a member killed by the red head boy who called himself a demon, and Sasuke shuddered, he knew he was good, but was he good enough to fight the guy, wasn't his name Gaara, however Sasuke did not have time to think as just then something flashed past him and hit Sakura, knocking her out instantly.

The clone went out next, and as Sasuke activated his Sharingan, he realized that the person who had attacked was no ordinary person, as a matter of fact, the person who attacked was an infamous person, and a person who every Shinobi in Konoha had associated with the word traitor.

"Ku Ku Ku Sasuke-kun, you seem to have some recognition of me" the voice said, the person in front of him (had shown himself after the clone was taken out) had pale skin, and looked like, well, a snake.

"It can't be" Sasuke said, barely a whisper as killer intent stronger than anything he had ever felt had begun radiating around him, almost paralyzing him, Sakura was knocked out and Orochimaru noticed Sasuke looking at her before saying-

"Don't worry, she is not my concern, you however" he said before charging towards him, Sasuke went into battle mode as his Sharingan let him see what was coming, and he dodged it, pretty comfortably, the Snake let out a small laughter.

"Nice, those eyes, aren't they the best eyes in the world?" he asked Sasuke, who was scared of him, this person was not a Kage level ninja for nothing, and this was just the start, could he even survive?

"I wanted to come as a fellow contestant in these exams, but that is just so troublesome isn't it, isn't this way much better, much more challenging and fun?" je asked Sasuke.

The intent was making breathing difficult and Sasuke decided that even if he died today, Naruto and Sakura would carry on his legacy and finish off his brother, but another voice in his head was asking him the reason for that, couldn't he survive, fighting someone this strong could help him, and he charged.

He let out a battle shout as he came towards Orochimaru, who sidestepped.

Sasuke completely missed and in that moment, looked more like an amateur than he had ever looked before, and Orochimaru laughed.

"Foolish Sasuke-kun, very foolish" he said to Sasuke before summoning a snake, a giant snake.

"Fuck" there was nothing better for Sasuke to say at this point of time.

-x-

"Fuck" Naruto said, to no one in particular, there in front of him was one of the biggest, no scratch that, the biggest snake he had ever seen, it had dispersed his clone, by swallowing it.

_How the hell did this snake get here, is he here, is this really happening?_ Naruto asked himself, but he was blindly groping for answers he knew he could not find.

This snake had to go, Naruto had to take him out himself.

He decided that this would be the time for Sword to make an appearance, he had to use it sometime right?

_Yes, finally you use me in battle again, this time will be amazing_ the sword muttered to him in excitement, Naruto smiled.

"Bring it ON" he said shouting the last word as he charged towards the snake.

-x-

Sasuke realized in a minute that his brother was too strong, and he was nowhere close to his level, actually he was not gonna ever be at his level unless someone gave him a power up which the characters received in video games that Naruto was fond off, and that was not going to happen.

He had tried every fire Jutsu he had and it had all gone to shit, nothing had even dented the snake, this was turning out to be extremely frustrating for him, Naruto would be a real hero if he would show up, for some reason, he had a feeling that Naruto would rise up to the challenge that the snake man was posing.

**Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Jutsu** he thought making the hand seals as he launched balls of fire at the snake, they barely made any dent on the snake whatsoever, and then Sasuke charged, hoping to dodge the snake and get to the man himself, and he succeeded in doing so, only for the snake man to effortlessly counter the Taijutsu that Sasuke used on him, and then the snake lunged for him from behind, Sasuke only barely managed to dodge, he was running out, Naruto had to be here, and fast.

"Where is your third teammate, I don't see him, is that dead last even somewhere around here, or did he do the smart thing..and run away?" Orochimaru asked Sasuke, who grit his teeth, was that possible, had Naruto abandoned him and run away, leaving him and Sakura to die. He realized that Naruto was more likely to kiss him before something like that happened.

"Naruto will be here, I'm sure he has a plan" Sasuke said, lying through his teeth, and Orochimaru recognized it, and laughed.

"I say he is smarter than he looks, smart, running away?" he said before laughing again, this time loudly.

Suddenly there was a poofing noise, and all of a sudden, Naruto was standing in front of him his sword having slashed the snake into a clean half, solving that problem for once and for all, and Sasuke felt better, Naruto had that affect on people, he made people feel safer.

_Took him long enough_ Sasuke though bitterly.

"Actually" Naruto said looking at Orochimaru, sword gleaming in his hand. That was a cool sword he had there.

"Actually" Naruto continued, "If you had to do a smart thing, it would be running away" he said, sounding confident, the intent did not seem to be affecting him one bit. "Because I will kick your ass" Naruto said as Orochimaru laughed again, even louder than last time.

"A dead last kicking me, heh that will be the day" Orochimaru said to Naruto as he began dissolving into the ground.

"Where did he go?" Naruto asked Sasuke, who shrugged.

"Right here" Orochimaru said as he emerged from the ground, with a grasp on Naruto's foot, before turning into snakes and completely engulfing Naruto, Sasuke let out a small gasp of alarm, he couldn't believe what had happened, however just then something else happened, Naruto exploded and vaporized the snakes that had engulfed him.

**Exploding Clones** Sasuke thought, only one person used this technique, how could Naruto know, _how does he know Itachi's techniques?_

Orochimaru had the same exact though, this was not possible, this was not happening, not to him. There was no way a loser like Naruto had learned all this, this blonde brat suddenly resembled Jiraiya more than ever, and for once, Orochimaru was scared, not of Naruto, but because of the potential that he had.

"Hmm, a stupid exploding clone technique?" he asked Naruto in a mocking tone, "Nothing special kid"

They had been battling in a clearing and on trees, however Orochimaru was now on the ground, looking up at Naruto, Sakura was knocked out, however during Naruto's entrance a clone had carried her to safety and brought her towards Naruto's side, she was just beginning to come to.

"So, an explosion is nothing impressive huh?" Naruto asked Orochimaru, who grinned. "You don't like the ground exploding?" he asked Orochimaru, who shook his head in a negative.

"Okay" Naruto said in a mock disappointing tone, "Then how about an implosion" he asked Orochimaru, who looked puzzled at that, before realizing too late what Naruto meant.

"BOOM" Naruto said as explosions began sounding, all of them coming from underground, in the area Orochimaru was standing, and suddenly, just like that, the ground gave way as explosions reached the surface from the underground and Orochimaru could not dodge in time, he fell inside the crack that had been opened up, a timely **Kawarimi** had saved him as he replaced himself with a log, before reappearing on a tree, there was a single sweat drop on his cheek, he was not liking this confrontation one bit.

"A simple substitution, how useful" Orochimaru remarked dryly as he sized Naruto up, the sword looked awfully familiar to him, but he could not place it, he couldn't make out where he had seen something like that.

"Yes" Naruto smiled, "Well sorry" he said, feeling a bit guilty.

Orochimaru laughed, "Ku Ku Ku, Naruto-kun, I will admit, you almost got me there, outsmarting someone like me, nothing to feel sorry about, actually its one thing you'll be proud of having done, almost outsmarting me in your short little life" he said to Naruto who grinned.

"Actually I was apologizing to the tree you were standing on, because it's gonna give its life, to end your own long and miserable existence" he said as the tree exploded.

_Drat, this kid is like that bomber kid, why does everything have to explode_ Orochimaru thought, feeling really frustrated, this was a second close call, he couldn't believe there were that many.

"Another explosion" Orochimaru asked Naruto, "Will this be followed by another implosion? What are you gonna do, sink the ground again, go ahead, this time, I'm on a tree" he said to Naruto, confident that the kid would get angrier.

"Nah" Naruto said playfully, "Sorry tree, its just another explosion" he said as the tree the snake man was standing on blew up.

"HOW MANY EXPLOSIONS?" the snake voice called out, he was on the ground now, it was him getting angrier.

"Actually, a 100" he said to Orochimaru, before the ground around him collapsed, the whole area was shattered by explosions, as a bird appeared out of nowhere, it was huge, Orochimaru was too busy dodging the explosions to notice the bird swooping away and taking Sasuke and Sakura in its talons, it was like an eagle, only very big. The explosions lasted for five minutes, Orochimaru was sure to die, or at least get injured in this melee of explosions.

-x-

"BOOM"

_What was that?_ Shikamaru thought, his teammates stared in the area of the explosion. There had been plenty of those, what was going on?

-x-

"What's going on?" Kiba said to Shino as the sound of explosions was heard everywhere. "Shino, we have to check this out" he said to Shino, who nodded. Hinata sighed, they had recovered the Earth Scroll, so it wouldn't harm to check it out, but she had a bad feeling about this.

-x-

"That's Uzumaki, those many explosions, something he would have done, lets go Temari, Kankuro"

-x-

"Okay, that was either a lot of explosions, or one HUGE one, we have to check it out, come on Lee, Tenten"

-x-

"Okay,What the fuck was that? I have to check it out. Ibiki, inform the Hokage that Anko Mitarashi has gone to investigate the explosions, I have a bad feeling about this"

-x-

The whole area around him was a mess, it was all burning trees, Naruto hoped that the explosion would serve as a signal, like it or not, he could not afford for Orochimaru to get serious. He himself had managed to survive by replacing himself with clones he had placed strategically, it was all thought out, he had some time to think while Sasuke kept Orochimaru distracted, give or take, he had taken out about a 1000 meters of land in explosions, he hoped there was no one around. It had also taken a lot out of him, those many clones and exploding tags, plus the underground implosion.

"WHERE IS SASUKE UCHIHA?" Orochimaru screamed, enraged, this kid was schooling him. Naruto looked up, the bird was now a speck, up in the sky, making circles, far away for Orochimaru to come and get him, he had secured Sasuke, just like the person had asked him to.

**Flashback**

_That was a great battle, that snake posed a challenge, it was fast, but it also seemed like it was Manda's minion, you have to be careful boy, only one person can summon such creatures as far as I know_ the sword whispered to him. Naruto nodded.

"Naruto-kun" a voice called out, Naruto turned and faced the person in front of him, he resembled Sasuke, but looked more grown up, and dare he say, even more of a lady killer than Sasuke himself? He also had a fancy pattern Sharingan, the Mangekyo Sharingan, this was not good, this was a person who had wiped out an entire clan, _was it his snake?_

"Actually" he said to Naruto, "We are on the same side, believe it or not" he said calmly to Naruto, who couldn't help but grin.

"Now I've seen everything" he said to Itachi, "How the hell can I trust you?"

"Ask your tenant, ask him if he can sense anything negative about me" Itachi said to Naruto, and Naruto had to admit, he was not getting negative vibes, this power of sensing negative emotions was actually turning out to be pretty useful. He could channel Kurama's chakra to sense negative emotions, Kurama had told him that over time, this wold be natural for him.

"But, you killed your own clan, mentally scarred your own brother, you have any explanation for that?" Naruto asked Itachi, who smiled.

"There's two sides to every Ryo, you'll find out, with my brother, at this moment, his life is at risk, in that fight with the giant snake, that was impressive by the way, I think you didn't notice but a clone of yours had gone out, I did however, as one of my clones had seen it, and dispersed to tell me, its really complicated" he said to Itachi.

"Well, fuck" he said to Itachi, who smiled, again, wasn't Itachi supposed to be this smiling dude, this was unsettling, what was happening.

"Its Orochimaru, the snake nin, he wants my brother's body, he'll tempt him with power, I need you to do something that will keep him at bay, then, take Sasuke to safety, and if it gets bad, I'll take over, also, I need you to alarm the authorities, this needs to be taken care of, swiftly, as much as I am loathe to admit, I cannot take Orochimaru out easily, and I cannot be seen..get it?" he asked Naruto, who nodded, something was telling him to trust Itachi, and he would, even though it was pretty stupid of him.

"Well, I do have clones that can explode, and lots of exploding tags, how's that for a smoke signal?" he asked Itachi.

"Scary good"

**End Flashback**

"YOU DARE TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME, I WILL KILL YOU" Orochimaru screamed.

"Actually, no you won't" Naruto said calmly, Orochimaru was getting serious, he had to move, fast.

However Orochimaru was faster, and all of a sudden, they were in a battle, fists were exchanged, Naruto used the flowing palm to full effect, trying to shut down Orochimaru's limbs, he struck Orochimaru's heart, only for two snakes to emerge from that body as Orochimaru reappeared from the ground around him, this was getting tougher, Naruto could not risk showing his Rinnegan, he already had the bird safely drop of Sasuke a distance away, but Naruto couldn't show Orochimaru that.

The fight continued as Orochimaru began getting more serious, he was beginning to go all out, obviously he wanted Naruto dead, but Naruto couldn't have that.

"Hey Orochimaru" he said as Orochimaru let out a fist, which Naruto parried, before letting out another fist towards Orochimaru's heart, Orochimaru somehow slithered away before jumping on Naruto in a flash.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" he asked Naruto through gritted teeth as he let out another fist, which Naruto barely missed.

"Remember when I said I had 100 explosions?" he asked Orochimaru. Another fist dodged.

"Yeah, what about it?" Another fist dodged.

"I lied" Orochimaru's fist hit Naruto in the face, and then Orochimaru's eyes widened as Naruto held onto Orochimaru's arm. He was a clone, with more Chakra for longevity.

"BOOM" another explosion shattered the whole area, as Orochimaru was caught on, helplessly awaiting the affects of that one.

-x-

Naruto was winded, those many explosions, plus making explosive tags on the fly, no wonder he was tired, and he was showing it, on the other hand, Orochimaru had managed surviving the explosions, mostly, a part of his face was burnt off, but it did not seem to bother him, Naruto however was disturbed, this man truly had the will to survive, and the capability, combine them and you have a strong person.

"Tired?" he Orochimaru asked Naruto. "Well, I'm not, Naruto-kun, I apologize, you hold promise, that is why I will give you a gift"

"Sure, and as a return present, I'll blow up again" Naruto said laughing.

"You are tired now, give up Naruto, I know you are a Jinchuriki, but you will have to call on your demon, and that is not good for you, although I have the means to control it, so come on, its a lose lose situation"

"True, I am tired, I blew up a lot of clones, I'll admit that, but-"

"But what?"

"It was all for a reason"

"Huh?"

"What the hell is this?"

Orochimaru looked around. They weren't alone.

Naruto smiled. Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Anko Mitarashi, along with some Konoha Chunin.

"NO, YOU CAN'T BE THIS CONNIVING, NO YOU CAN'T" Orochimaru cried out in angst, he couldn't do what he wanted to, not here, not in front of these many people. "I WILL HAVE THAT SHARINGAN, NARUTO UZUMAKI, YOU HEAR ME, THIS IS NOT OVER" he screamed.

"Run away, smart thing to do" Naruto said with a smug smile on his face, throwing Orochimaru's words back at him.

"You made a mistake Naruto, a big mistake"

"Yeah, sure I did"

Orochimaru was gone before anything could happen, he would have to regroup, he had underestimated Naruto, and had been outsmarted. Time to regroup.

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE?" Kiba shouted in shock, Naruto looked around, it was all a big crater, several explosions sometimes does that to you.

"Kid, did you just take outa mile of the Forest of Death?" Anko asked Naruto, who did not say anything, he was going to collapse, and he couldn't do it here, for some reason, he was tired.

"Not now Anko nee-chan, I have to skedaddle" he said, before vanishing in a sparkle of lightning.

-x-

"Found ya"

"Naruto, WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?" it was Sakura, with her fangirl shriek, however this had worry written all over it. They were in another clearing, not very far away, although enough for the explosions to not reach them. Naruto grinned sheepishly, before saying.

"SORRY? I WAS SCARED SHITLESS, SASUKE IS KNOCKED OUT AND I SEE EXPLOSIONS, WHAT IS GOING ON?" she asked him, before quieting down, there were tears in her eyes. "I was scared, I though, I though my uselessness killed you" she said quietly.

"Sakura, the person who knocked you out was a Kage Level Ninja, and the only reason I survived it because I relied on distractions, don't worry, you'll get stronger, now, what's that?" he asked, there was a scroll beside Sasuke's knocked out body, apparently the bird spinning at a height had knocked him out. Who would have though it was due to air sickness.

"Oh yeah, its a scroll, I dunno, its the Heaven Scroll, but I wonder if we should take it, it has a letter too, addressed to you"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "You didn't open it?" he asked her.

"It was addressed to you, I couldn't open it, it would be wrong" she said to Naruto.

Naruto tore open the letter and read it.

**Naruto-kun,**

**Well done, no sweat, like I said that was scary good, you pretty much deserve the Heaven Scroll, don't worry about who I took it from, they weren't important, consider this a thank you**

Naruto tore the letter, a grin on his face. He then burned the rest, he looked at Sakura, the grin still on his face.

"Was the scroll there all the time?" he asked her.

"No, actually a crow dropped it off, what does the letter say?"

Naruto laughed. _You have style Itachi, its a shame my best friend wants to murder you_

"Nothing Sakura, lets go, after Sasuke wakes up of course"

-x-

"He took out about a mile of the forest, and scared away a KAGE LEVEL NINJA, how? What have you been teaching him?" Anko asked Kakashi, they were on the borders of the forest, the explosions had been heard in the village, it had been passed off as a training exercise, although the Jounin knew better, they were informed about a possible invasion, the source had been confidential, even Kakashi did not seem to know.

"Now now Anko, I am sure you are exaggerating, surely, that is not possible, Naruto is talented, but he cannot take out about a mile of a forest" Kurenai said trying to calm her down.

"No Kurenai, obviously, you did not see the crater, I don't know how he did it, I do not know" she said. "The kid scared off Orochi-fucking-Maru, I don't know how, but I seriously doubt that he is an ordinary kid, I knew he was good, but I though that was Iruka's brotherly love talking, but no, this kid, this kid is scary, he scared me"

"No way, Naruto was dead last in class, he did not get so strong so quickly, it was Orochimaru's doing, and Naruto survived. That is all"

"Oh yeah, if it was Orochimaru's doing, why was he reduced to tears, cause mother nature was hurt? He was about to cry Kurenai, trust me, I know my former sensei, he was anything but in control of the situation" Anko said to Kurenai.

"Okay, stop arguing, Shikamaru and his team have reached the centre, I'll find out what happened, alright?" Asuma, the voice of reason said. He kissed Kurenai on the cheek as he felt himself pulled away by a reverse summoning scroll.

-x-

"Okay, Naruto, we have to move, now is no time to sleep" Sakura said, Sasuke was still out, however he was moving, this air sickness thing seemed a bit serious.

"Sakura chan, please, let me lie down, I am really tired, please, its only two hours, I know we can rush, but I don't wanna, we have five days, only six hours have passed, please?" he said to Sakura, who sighed before sitting down, Naruto put his head on her lap, Sasuke was beside her, she seemed like a team mom at this moment, and for some reason she felt happy.

"I was scared Sakura" Naruto said to her, Sakura looked alarmed, Naruto? Scared?

"He was strong, I felt it, I don't know why, but seriously, he was not at his best, and he is a senile old man, one of the Sannin, it scares me, if he was going on full, I would have been finished, I'm not kidding" he said to her. Sakura smiled.

"Naruto, I have my priorities right" Sakura said to him. Naruto sat up before looking at her in puzzlement.

"Remember, I had to get my priorities right, today, seeing those explosions, and everything, and seeing the bird save me from them, I realized that I do have precious people. You, Sasuke, Kakashi sensei, you are my precious people, I wanted to protect you, I know, Sasuke rejected me and I vilified you, but I was wrong, very wrong, I am sorry, truly sorry this time, forgive me, and please, make me stronger" she said to Naruto, who grinned.

"Sakura, don't you get it, once you realize who your precious people are, you don't need help, it'll come from the inside, feel it" he said to her. She smiled.

"I feel it" she said, almost a whisper.

'Good" Naruto said before falling unconscious, no asleep. He was tired, they would be delayed, at least they had the scroll. Well, he deserved it, both of them deserved it, she wouldn't be useless anymore.

_Naruto, Sasuke, I'll grow stonger, I'll protect you too, just like you protected e today_ she thought smiling as she sat down, but the momentary peace was immediately broken.

A rabbit was running towards her, and Sakura and her reading on Ambush told her that rabbits never ran to a human unless they were pets, this had explosive tag written all over it, she would get a chance now, to prove herself, to protect. She whipped out a kunai and hit the rabbit, which predictably exploded, looks like the book helped.

"Oh, its just the weakling of the team" a voice called out, and three sound ninja appeared around them.

"She will be easy to deal with" the female said to her, she had whipped out her senbon.

"Yes, her teammates are out, we can kill that Sasuke Uchiha" the third person said, this man looked like a mummy, Sakura began seething, no way she was letting her teammates die.

"Don't come any closer, I will finish you" she said seething.

"Oh ho ho, I am scared, Dosu, Kin, I am scared, I am so scared" one man said, the girl Kin and the mummy, Dosu began laughing.

Sakura's anger exploded, her inner personality which was shrieking inside her was gone, she had come to terms with her restlessness, today, she was no longer gonna be inhibited, no longer in the back, she was gonna stand beside Naruto and Sasuke, not behind them, she would achieve greatness, but how?

Tsunade-sama had good chakra control , she would channel her Chakra to her fist, and then let it rip, thus maximizing her strength, and Sakura felt that this was worth a try, it was worth a shot, who knows, she might succeed.

She began channeling her Chakra, hoping that her near perfect control came through and helped her. She balled her fists, before punching the ground, hoping that it would work.

Nothing happened, and Sakura's heart sunk.

The three ninja were laughing, inching closer.

"Pounding her fist into the ground, what a strong attack" the girl, Kin mocked her.

"OKAY THAT'S IT" Sakura screamed, unknowingly waking up not only Sasuke, but also Naruto. She pounded her fist into a ground, but the laughter of the three sound ninja dissolved to horror, somehow, the whole ground had cracked up.

"Now" Sakura said standing up. "Are you scared?" she asked the person who had mocked her. The look on his face gave away the horror he was feeling.

"Oh ho ho ho" Sakura laughed, before the girl, Kin launched tow Senbon at her, Sakura deflected it with her Kunai. Then she was on her, and punched her, the punch made an earth shattering impact, Kin's teeth were seen flying about as she was knocked out, before Dosu (the mummy) or the other kid (Zaku) could react, Sakura was on to them too, and punched them both, at once, and sent them crashing into a tree.

"OH YEAH, SHANNARO" Sakura screamed in delight, with a thumbs up sign as she turned towards what she though were her unconscious teammates, however they were very much awake. Her smile turned into a blush as Sasuke and Naruto had what could best be described as pale, white eyes.

"Sasuke, brother, we are not messing with her again, you hear me" Naruto whispered to Sasuke as Sakura began jumping up and down in delight at having learnt Tsunade's moves.

"Mess with her, are you kidding me, I might not show it, but I like my balls where they are, by that I mean on my body"

-x-

"Its true" Asuma said to Kurenai. They were back in the teacher's lounge.

"WHAT?"

"Shikamaru and Chouji said it themselves, Ino is in denial, but its true, Naruto did blow up about a mile of the forest, and also scared, yeah, that's right, scared Orochimaru away, Anko was right"

-x-

"WHAT?!"

The expression on Jiraiya's face was comical. They were in the Hokage's office. Itachi, Sandaime and Jiraiya.

"That is correct Jiraiya-sama, Naruto took out about a mile of the forest, and Orochimaru had to make a tactical retreat, I did not have to reveal myself, this saves us all the trouble of having to proceed with knowing that Orochimaru knows we are onto him." he said to the Sandaime who nodded.

"Sandaime sama, I am not one to tell you to do my job, but this kid reminds me of me, he's got intelligence and style, he has no business being a genin" Itachi said to Sandaime, who nodded.

"Oh, this will get him a promotion, no doubt about that"

-x-

**Rikudo, old man, are you seeing this, my vessel, he is going to go places, many places, you chose right when the bloodline was given to him, he will be the one to bring peace, I just hope that there are more explosions on the way to that peace.**

-x-

_Minato-sensei, your son has done me proud, he really did shock and awe me, I remember how you used to say that a Shinobi should always try bamboozling his opponent, well, your son is a perfect embodiment of you sensei, he looks like you and acts like you in battle, and loves ramen, but he's like Kushina-sama in that respect, I hope where ever you are, you are watching, this should make you proud._

_Obito, you saved me from the darkness, Naruto will save Sasuke, I know this, he will, trust me._

Kakashi smiled, he no longer had to hold on to his past, today, he would move on, he was like Minato-sensei and Sandaime, raising a team that would shake the world to its foundations but right now, they were calling him. He felt the reverse summoning pull him away.

-x-

"So, there have to be preliminaries sensei?" Sakura asked Kakashi, who smiled, it reached his eyes. They had opened the scrolls in the tower. All was good.

"Oh yes, yes it is, is that a problem?"

"Are you kidding me sensei?" Naruto asked as Sasuke snorted, "We're team 7, we held our own against Orochimaru and Sakura took out three genin, by herself, I think we'll be okay"

They would be okay, Kakashi knew it.

-x-

"HE WILL PAY, HE WILL PAY" Orochimaru screamed.

"Failed?"

"MADARA"

"Don't be angry, I heard about your failure from my agent, well, not good Orochimaru, not good"

"I HAVE TIME"

"Sure, although if I was you, I'd not underestimate that Naruto kid, seems like bad news" Madara said before teleporting away.

Naruto was bad news, and his capture, that would be good news, but that was a long, long time away.

-x-

**Okay, done, one sitting for the win, flashbacks and point of view changes. I also in some cases did not bother explaining whose point of view it was, this was done on purpose, I know you guys are smart enough to know stuff like that. Here are somethings I would comment on.**

**Fight Scene- I was nervous, I gave it a lot of though, then I decided on explosions, Naruto won't overtly rely on explosions, but in case you did notice, he will be fond of them, this was also foreshadowing for something else.**

**Sakura- This chapter was similar to her cannon change towards the good, also I thought that she should accidentally pick up Tsunade's skill, she'll teach her, but only medic techniques, its a side plot.**

**Sasuke- He was useless, now he knows how Sakura feels, well, lets hope Itachi and Sasuke goes somewhere, it will.**

**Naruto- I tried, hopefully he came off as a badass, I don't know, he was strong, but him getting tired was done on purpose, after all, he will be Godlike, he isn't there yet.**

**Dialogue- I tried making Naruto cheeky, its part of his character now, some of it might come off as sappy, but sorry, I'll get better, I really took inspiration from The Dark Knight (although my dialogue is nowhere close to The Dark Knight)**

**Consequences- Will never be the same, Sakura will now come into her own, Sasuke was getting better anyway, Naruto is awesome anyway, but the story takes a turn now, send your guesses as to who's Madara's agent, you might get it right, either way, you won't find out soon.**

**The story will get more action oriented now, I hope it does, I will keep getting better, but I feel like I've done a good job, but you have to tell me. Please, this time at least, make a point and leave a review. Especially on whether Naruto came out good. Tell me where you think Itachi fits in, I might alter the story (as much as I can without drastically altering the plot)**

**I am seriously considering ItaSaku now, I dunno, it will be good to write, tell me about it. Please, review, it helps.**

**Thanks for all your support upto this point, I either did well, or I bombed. Tell me.**

**Later.**

**Next Chapter:**

**The Preliminaries, they are gonna be slightly different, you can send in the matches you like to see, they don't affect the story that much.**

**P. Zimmer, your Batman OST is INSPIRATIONAL. **


	12. The Visitor

**Hello again, and first off I would like to start off with a lengthy author's note.**

**Sorry for the delay, but personal life and writer's block decided to gang up on me and fuck with my life, I almost gave up on the story because of some issues, but then I saw that the story had gotten a 100,000 hits and so many PM's asking me to continue with the story, and I decided that I would give it a shot. The story is still on my mind and hopefully I am gonna be more regular.**

**This chapter is shorter, and sorry but it will take some time before I bring back the usual chapter lengths. Also there might be some blocky writing on my part, but this chapter will be edited if there are any spelling errors.**

**I'd just like to thank all the readers for reading this thing and making sure it got to a 100,000 hits, its kind of a big deal, and here's to a 100,000 more.**

**I would also like to apologize if the chapter is short and not as good, but it gets better as I hopefully make a return to writing a bit more regularly.**

**I have been keeping up with the Manga, and I must say that it has gotten really, really interesting.**

**I am really sorry about the Sasuke Yugito fight, but I was really really stuck up against the wall and think it is just underwhelming, hopefully I'll be back in form for the other fights (not that they were my strongest suite)**

**And finally, the story will be taking on a much lighter tone, it'll be serious, but will be hopefully funnier.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, KISHIMOTO DOES, ALTHOUGH NOW I AM STARTING TO THINK THAT I'LL BUY IT FROM HIM, ONCE I HAVE THE MONEY, AND THE MANGA DRAWING SKILL.**

Preliminaries were going to be held to decide who would go on to the finals of the Chunin exams, which were gonna take place in a month. Naruto had hoped that all this would be over soon, but that was not to be, apparently the month was given so that the leaders of other villages could arrive in Konoha to bolster the spirits of their genin.

Naruto did not care, he was tired of the exams, the fight with Orochimaru had taken a lot out of him, he knew that even with his eyes and Uzumaki blood, he could only take so much, he was just glad that the Rinnegan was not shown to anyone, he was scared about the backlash that might occur if someone were to find out about the Rinnegan.

He looked at the teams that had qualified, it was his own team, plus Team Gai, and Team 8 and Team 10, Also, the team from Kumo and Suna had qualified, it left the other team from the sound, Naruto grit his teeth, he had wanted to tie them up, that could have reduced the total number of participants, however he didn't mind, he was confident that he could defeat them all.

Four days later, Kabuto's team had arrived too, and they had given up, one of Kabuto's team mates was too injured and the whole team had decided to give up. Naruto did not trust Kabuto one bit, but he did not seem to have a choice in the matter, the Hokage had let Team Kabuto leave the hall, he had then proceeded to give other teams the option to quit, however no one did.

Naruto smiled, this meant that there were 21 people, one person was gonna get a bye into the final, the bye would be decided by some sort of a lucky draw, as it turned out,Neji received the bye. Neji smiled, luck had favored him and he was happy, after all, it was destiny that favored him didn't it?

The teams that had seen Naruto's penchant for destruction were slightly in awe of him now, they could not believe it at first, but over the last few days it had began sinking in, Naruto seemed stronger, the only person who seemingly disagreed was Neji, he still could not believe that Naruto was the one to blow up a mile of forest, it must have been that Snake nin, Orochimaru.

The Jounin sensei had warned their teams, Ino was already thinking about giving up if she was matched with Naruto, however as it turned out, she did not have to worry, as the first match was..

**Naruto Uzumaki vs Karui**

"Alright, an easy opponent" Karui the red head from Kumo exclaimed, pumping her fists in the air. Naruto looked at her and smiled, "You're welcome" he said to her.

"What are you talking about?" Karui asked Naruto, puzzled that he was not even a little angry.

"I am glad that you consider yourself to be an easy opponent for me, at least you aren't delusional like some other people" he said to her. Karui turned red when she heard that, Omoi was laughing and Yugito had a smile on her face. Sasuke was smirking and Sakura was trying to hold her laughter in.

"THAT'S IT, YOU ARE GOING DOWN" Karui shouted at Naruto, who merely smirked as he raised an eyebrow.

"A shinobi does not get influenced by an opponent trying to talk him down, such a shame" he said to her, "Your sensei is going to be disappointed" he said, looking at said sensei. He was staring at Naruto with a lazy expression on his face. Naruto recognized this person from the bingo book. Darui of the Black Lightening.

"OKAY, PROCTOR, CALL THE MATCH" she shouted looking towards the sickly Hayate Gekko, who shrugged.

"Begin"

Karui charged towards Naruto, who sidestepped. She was a hot head, and Naruto knew he could exploit this and take the win, and that is exactly what he was going to do.

"YOU WILL DIE FOR DISRESPECTING ME YOU MIDGET" she shouted. **Cloud Style: Front Beheading**, as she slashed her sword that she had suddenly pulled out from its holster. However in an instant, Naruto had his own sword out, blocking Karui's. He pushed the sword and Karui lost her balance as she stumbled. Naruto immediately pounced and kicked her on the back. She cried out in pain as she held her back.

"Pathetic" Naruto said before kicking her again, this time she was kicked so hard that the wind was knocked out of her lungs, she fell down, unconscious.

Naruto looked at Hayate, who had his mouth open. Naruto grinned upon seeing the expression on his Sword Teacher's face.

"Winner Naruto Uzumaki" Hayate said, Sakura and Sasuke began applauding, Naruto just shrugged. On his way up he looked at Darui.

"Darui-san, your reputation precedes you. Please tell your foolish student to never ever, ever call me a midget. Get it?" he asked Darui. Who sized up Naruto before nodding.

"Okay Naruto-san, I get it, won't happen again"

"Good"

-x-

"What?" Naruto asked looking at Sakura, she looked worried.

"You hit her too hard, she will be humiliated when she wakes up" she said to Naruto who sighed.

"Don't you mean if she wakes up?" Sasuke asked Sakura. She turned towards him and began staring.

"What, I can crack jokes too you know" he said to both of them, his face fell when he observed the sweardrops on their faces.

They would have continued with the conversation but the second match was announced.

**Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka**

"Oh wow, I got an easy opponent. Prepared to go down Forehead?" Ino asked Sakura, who smiled.

"Ino-pig, I hope you are prepared to go down, after all, its the pigs who lay snorting on the floor" she said. To Ino's credit, this did not rile her up as much as it should have. Both of them made their way down to the arena to fight.

"Begin" said Hayate as Ino and Sakura dropped into a stance.

Their fight was not as much of a cat fight as some people had been expecting, as a matter of fact, it was more tactical than anybody would have hoped.

Sakura tried throwing Ino off track by using multiple camouflaging Jutsu but Ino seemed competent enough to take them apart, however she could not hit Sakura with the **Mind Transfer Technique** as much as she tried.

Sakura was not giving any room for Ino to use her Jutsu and Ino could not seemingly pull it off.

The fight continued for a while but finally Sakura managed to land a punch on Ino, thus knocking her out.

"Winner: Sakura Haruno"

-x-

The next match was pretty lazy, no pun intended.

**Shikamaru Nara vs Kin Tsuchi**

"You might look cute with your hair in your ponytail like that, but I know just how to beat the likes of you" Kin said after she had stepped down in the arena, Shikamaru had sighed with exasperation, not wanting to do anything with fighting a woman. For some reason this seemed to anger Temari of all people. It had taken five minutes for Shikamaru to come down to the arena, and once he had, he had continued sighing and saying he did not want to fight the match, not if it was against a girl, but it was to no avail.

Finally, after what seemed like a hundred years, Shikamaru came down to the arena.

"Finally" Kin said smiling. Shikamaru just sighed.

"Give up, you lose" he said to Kin. That's when people realized what had really happened.

A single shadow was extending and reaching out to Kin, who was already trapped.

"You are in my shadow, I took advantage of all that distraction that I caused on purpose" he said to her, before proceeding to head towards the wall, he then imitated bashing his head against the wall, but Kin actually just bashed her head for real, thus knocking herself out.

"I did not want to do this, what a shame" he said to the people that were watching him from above.

"I feel sorry for Shika's wife" Naruto said, to no one in particular, Sasuke and Kiba snickered, Chouji was smiling, but Shino did not have any reaction whatsoever, he was still as stoic as he always had been.

-x-

"This invasion, it better go off without a hitch Kabuto, I will not be outsmarted again" Orochimaru told Kabuto Yakushi.

"Yes Orochimaru-sama, I will make sure that no one finds out, that the element of surprise is maintained when you attack Konoha" he said to him. Orochimaru nodded.

"Yes Kabuto, I have had it with Konoha, not only will I deal with Sarutobi sensei, I will also deal with that blonde haired demon brat" he said to Kabuto, who nodded.

"My lord, are you sure that no one was helping him, I find it hard to believe that a mere child, that too a genin just outsmarted you like that, I mean he forced you to run away" Kabuto said to Orochimaru, and the surge of killer intent reminded him of his mistake. He had used the wrong words

"You might be my greatest source of info Kabuto, but do not make me kill you" Orochimaru said to Kabuto. Kabuto gulped before bowing down in front of Orochimaru.

"Sorry Orochimaru-sama, it will never happen again" he said.

"Make sure that it doesn't"

-x-

**Match 4:**

**Sasuke Uchiha vs Yugito Nii**

"Okay, its finally my turn to shine"said Sasuke simling, it did not seem like a friendly smile, actually it looked maniacal.

"Sasuke, no showboating" Naruto said to him, looking serious.

"What?" he asked Naruto in shock, Naruto just nodded his head, hoping his teammate would understand.

"You won't win this, at least not easily, just do not slack off, alright?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke nodded, he was determined to do well, he had his own motivation of making the finals now.

"What makes you think that I'm not going to win?" he asked Naruto. "Are you forgetting that I am the last Uchiha?" he asked Naruto as he activated his Sharingan.

"What about Itachi?"

"He's dead to me"

Naruto gulped, Itachi did not seem to be the cold blooded killer the legends had painted him, as a matter of fact, he had come of as a friendly person, albeit a crazy friendly one as he smiled so often.

"Naruto? Are you listening to me, we will meet in the exams" Sasuke said to him. Naruto was brought back to reality as he smiled.

"Let's hope so" he shouted back. Sasuke had meanwhile made his way to the arena where Yugito was already standing.

**"Kit, do you think we will get to see Nibi in action?"** Kurama asked Naruto, who shrugged inwardly.

"Maybe" he said to no one in particular in a voice that was so low that no one could hear him. "For Sasuke's own good, let's hope not"

Kurama affirmed as Naruto turned his complete attention towards the fight. Hayate had already called the beginning, and both Sasuke and Yugito were in their stances.

"Those eyes Uchiha-san, I am not particularly fond of them" Yugito said to him. "Which is why I am gonna work harder at beating you"

"Don't hold back" Sasuke shot back. "You might lose" he said to her.

"He still has some of that recklessness and bravado, but Naruto and Sakura's friendship has mostly eroded that, well, Konoha wasn't exactly built in a day" Kakashi said to no one in particular, although almost everyone heard it.

Sasuke made the first move as he rushed through hand seals before releasing some fire balls that exploded on contact. Yugito skillfully dodged them all.

"**Exploding Flame Shots**" Asuma said to Kakashi. "You sure you can trust a kid with those?" he asked him. Kakashi smiled.

"Oh, I don't know, what else would I teach him?" he asked Asuma whose shoulders slumped.

"Gai" Kurenai said to the spandex clad Jounin who had remained uncharacteristically quiet so far.

"Kakashi" Gai said looking seriously at the battle going on underneath them. "All your students seem to know a lot more than they should, Sasuke has a dangerous technique and Naruto can blow up forests, what is going on?" he asked Kakashi, who began smiling awkwardly behind his mask.

"Nothing like that Gai, please, don't worry about it, Naruto was probably desperate when he blew up the forest, after all, he was fighting an S-Rank missing nin who had come to abduct his best friend, anybody would be scared" he said to Gai.

"So scared that he blew up a forest?" Asuma asked Kakashi as Kurenai and Gai nodded while Kakashi began sweating.

"Does it really matter?" he asked Asuma who nodded, he wanted answers and he was going to get them.

"Yes, so tell me Kakashi, how is it that he is so talented, I mean he has to be doing something right? Or you have to be doing something for him to be so good, right?"

"Well, I'll tell you this much, I think he like blowing things up" Kakashi finished. Kurenai sighed as she realized that there was not gonna be an answer more concrete than the one Kakashi was going to give them now.

"Leave him Asuma, he is not going to tell us, its no point wasting our time on him" she said to him, Asuma nodded before dropping the subject and concentrating on the battle again.

In the few minutes that Asuma and Kakashi had talked, the entire battle field had changed, it now resembled a volcano, or at least what Naruto thought looked like the interior of a volcano.

"It's gonna take about three S-Ranked missions to repair this shit" Asuma said in disgust as he surveyed the damage done in front of him. Sasuke and Yugito meanwhile were oblivious to the damage they had caused, they were focused on nothing but themselves.

"Not bad for an arrogant Uchiha" Yugito said to Sasuke.

"Not bad for a nobody" he shot back, in kind.

They continued their fighting as they suddenly decided to indulge in Taijutsu. Sasuke's sharingan was proving to be more helpful here as he was able to negate almost everything the fiesty Kumo kunoichi was throwing at him and paying back in kind.

Sasuke was getting tired though, while the girl seemed to run on limitless fuel, she reminded him of Naruto, who also never ever tired out in their spars. He wondered if it was something to do with a bloodline limit.

"Okay, I need to finish this thing, and I need to do it now" he said to Yugito, before launching **Exploding Flame Shots **at her, which Yugito again skillfully dodged.

"Don't get too reliant on one technique" Yugito said to him as she suddenly vanished in a burst of speed, reappearing behind Sasuke and swiping at him, tearing his shirt in the process scratching him to the point of drawing blood, one look at Yugito and Sasuke realized that it was the nails on her fingers that did the job.

"That was my **Cat Claw**" Yugito said to him taunting him and increasing the levels of Sasuke's anger, until he couldn't take it anymore.

He charged at her, faster than he had, all the pain that had welled up in him forgotten, he just charged, taking her by surprise as he kicked her, square in the jaw.

"That" Sasuke said as he looked at a stumbling Yugito. "Was a kick"

It was a good kick, and had disoriented Yugito, she had felt slightly dizzy, but now the pain had come back to Sasuke, the anger had numbed it for a while, but now it was back.

"Is it hurting?" Yugito asked him, the mocking in her voice evident. He did not like the voice one bit, but the only way to shut it up was to continue fighting.

"I'll like it better once I beat you, and I get treated for this shit" he said to her, before continuing his charge and again meeting blows for blows with Yugito.

**"How long will it be till she cracks and uses Nibi, I kind of want to see her in action"** Kurama said to Naruto, who silently agreed.

Meanwhile Sasuke was reaching towards an end, he had been badly injured and could not hold on for much longer, if he could not get her down before that, he'd have to quit, and he hated quit. He couldn't afford to quit.

Yugito on the other end had the same dilemma, she sensed that she would have to tap into her tailed beast before she could beat him. However the words of her sensei came to her mind, she could not, under any condition go tailed beast on anyone whilst she was in Konoha, she could not go against her sensei.

Sasuke on the other hand decided to make one last final charge towards Yugito with all he had left, the **Cat Claw **had wounded him and he realized that this would be his last chance to get any sort of significant damage done, he had to take her out now or she would take him out very easily.

They clashed as Yugito struggled to defend against Sasuke's rapid fast strikes while he summoned up every last of his will power. Yugito noticed that Sasuke was even faster than he was before and chalked it up to the adrenaline that the fight had produced.

She warded off the final of his attacks as Sasuke fell to his knees, the bleeding from the scratches at the back had done its job, and he had weakened significantly.

"You've lost blood. Give up" Yugito said to him in a matter of fact tone.

"I don't give up, I can't give up" Sasuke said, sputtering.

Meanwhile in the stands, Naruto and Sakura had looks of concern on their faces, Sasuke had been losing a lot of blood and Sakura was worried that something serious was going to happen.

"Sasuke" she called out from the stands, "There is no point, give up, its not worth getting injured seriously" she called out to him. Sasuke just looked at her and glared.

Naruto did not say anything, he knew asking Sasuke to stop would be futile and somewhat hypocritical, because he himself wouldn't have stopped.

Sasuke got up again, despite his wooziness, he was sure that if he got up after this battle, Sakura would kill him dead. Yugito had a look of absolute surprise on her face, she hadn't thought that Sasuke would have so much in him to still put up a fight.

Sasuke prepared some hand seals as he launched a **Great Fireball Technique **at Yugito, who moved to avoid her. In the moment that she was dodging, Sasuke charged at her and jumped up, spinning in the air as he landed a kick at Yugito, caught unawares, she had not option but to take the blow, which knocked her out.

Sasuke himself had lost consciousness as he landed the kick and both of them fell to the floor, knocked out. The result was a draw.

Naruto and Sakura rushed down towards Naruto while Yugito's teammates went towards her. Sasuke barely opened his eyes to look at Yugito, who was also knocked out.

"Did I win?" he asked Naruto, his voice barely a whisper.

"Yes" Naruto said. "You just won yourself a nice little head bop from Sakura for being so reckless, "You also could not beat her, it was a draw, both of you are gonna sit this one out" he finished.

"Great" Sasuke sighed, before returning to his sleep.

"Go easy on him will you?" Naruto asked Sakura, who nodded her head.

"I'll deal with him when he is fully recovered" Sakura said to him before hitting her fists against her palm. Naruto gulped.

**"Kit, do you think that her biju did not come out before she was instructed to?" **Kurama asked Naruto.

'That is something worth thinking about, maybe she just did not want to be revealed as a Jinchuriki?' Naruto asked him.

**"Call me a paranoid fox, but I think there is something going on behind the scenes, and I want to find out" **Kurama said to him.

'Paranoid Fox' Naruto said to him. "I think you are thinking too much, maybe we should get you out of that cage" he said to Kurama.

**"Does that mean you are gonna tear the seal open?" **Kurama asked hopefully.

'Yes, and then I'm gonna go and fuck the princess of Konoha' Naruto said in a biting tone.

**"Smartass"** Kurama said to him snarling.

Meanwhile medical personnel were attending to a badly injured Sasuke and a not so badly injured, but still pretty injured.

-x-

Sasuke woke up in a hospital room, which suddenly changed into a green meadow, with one shadowy figure standing in the background.

"Is it a dream?" he called out.

"No, it's a nightmare" a familiar voice called out to him. Sasuke recognized it instantly.

**"YOU!" **Sasuke raged out as he lashed towards the figure, the direction from which the voice came out. He had realized that he suddenly could run and the pain on his back was gone, but before he could reach the figure, a chain that he did not know existed stopped his progress, tripping him and stopping him from reaching the figure.

"Don't bother, you're in the **Tsukiyomi, **there is no escape" the voice called out to him.

**"YOU! What are you doing here?" **Sasuke shouted, a scream that was demonic more than anything else.

"There is no point little brother, I'm not going to tell you why I am here, not until you calm down and stop struggling"

It was another hour before Sasuke finally stopped struggling.

"Are you going to kill me then, has my time run out?" Sasuke asked him, finally after having struggled for so long, realizing that resistance was futile.

"No" Itachi said, coming closer to Sasuke, before poking him on the head.

The poke on his head seemed to bring back memories of a happier time in his life, when he had a family that cared for him, and his brother was the person he idolized. Itachi Uchiha.

"I'm going to tell you a story, you're going to listen. Do you hear me?" he asked Sasuke, who nodded.

"I didn't know the **Tsukiyomi **could be used like this" Sasuke said to Itachi in a low voice.

"I had a girlfriend before the massacre, she said listening to me telling stories was a form of torture, so I guess I'm still torturing you"

Sasuke had an expression on his face that nobody could use an adjective to describe.

-x-

**So that is that, and Sasuke is gonna be tortured, by being subjected to a story from Itachi. The next chapter will open with an Itachi POV that will explain his motivations and finally reveal exactly what his character is going to be in the story, and what motivates him.**

**Take care.**

**-Zap**

**PS: While writing the chapter, I was listening to King Crimson, great fucking band, check them out if anybody cares.**


	13. Itachi's Tale

**Okay, sup guys, this came quicker than I anticipated, and there is a note way at the bottom.**

**How about the manga right now, the action is picking up I'll say. A good time to read the Manga I suppose.**

**I need your help with something, that's at the bottom, so make sure you read the note.**

**I DON'T OWN NARUTO. SCREW YOU GUYS IF YOU THINK OTHERWISE, I'M GOING HOME.**

* * *

**A Few Years Ago. **

He had done it, and now he had to live with the consequences. He had killed his entire family. He had groaned painfully as he brought them all to their punishment, their death penalty that they deserved for attempted treason, against his home, the village he was born and brought up in.

Even Dango did not taste as sweet.

Of course what he hadn't told anyone was that he hadn't done it all, he had been helped, by someone who could be the only person in this world Itachi was afraid of, someone who had founded his very own clan, someone who wanted revenge. And yet things didn't add up, hadn't Madara been dead already, how could he have come back, looking so young. Had he attained immortality? Did that even exist. Of course, Madara had promised Itachi immortality, eternal peace and a lot more, all he wanted in return was for Itachi to join him, to help him in his quest, what was it again, for eternal immortality?

And he had been a coward, he had refused, all he had wanted was to get the job done, and keep the only person he loved in his family safe. Madara had promised that Sasuke would be safe, nothing would happen to him, but he had also said that if Itachi were to get in his way, that would be it for him.

All he ever though of was his little brother, hoping that he was stewing in his hate for him, hoping that he was getting stronger every day, strong enough to protect himself.

And here he was, on the run, in a village that was in the Land Of Rainbows, he'd come here because he had heard that there was plenty of crime, spare jobs to do so that he could keep up with life.

It was then he sensed something big coming in his direction, a chakra pool so large it was intimidating, and it was coming towards him, quickly.

The fact that the source of Chakra was even there indicated that the person had no intentions of concealing himself. Itachi decided to hide himself even better, he'd make no move till he found out who it was.

"Hiding from a Sannin, not a good idea Itachi" a voice called out, it was familiar, and friendly, full of enthusiasm.

"Here to catch me Jiraiya sama?"

Jiraiya smiled, the toad sage came into clearer view as Itachi came out of the enclosure he was hiding in. He hadn't changed much, he was still old and quite tall, much taller than Itachi.

"You think I wouldn't find out what happened? You think I'd not have the common sense?" he asked Itachi as realization dawned on Itachi's face. Jiraiya knew everything about what really happened.

"I have to commend you Itachi, making the ultimate sacrifice of your family just for the safety of your village, you've got some guts, but maybe you should have finished the job completely" Jiraiya said to him, the last statement with a little bit of malice in it.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that"

"I know you know fully what I mean by that" Jiraiya said to Itachi, almost shouting. His voice still resounded around the clearing they were in.

"Land Of Rainbows has a lot of petty crime, If I was on the run, I'd be here for the money, that's how I found you" Jiraiya said to Itachi.

"What do you mean by me finishing the job, surely you don't mean I have to kill-"

"-your brother Sasuke, yes" Jiraiya finished, answering his question for him.

Itachi didn't know what to make of that, and so decided to say nothing as Jiraiya let that thought stew.

"You might as well have killed him, because if that's how you think he'll grow, then you're fucking foolish" Jiraiya finished.

"What was I supposed to do?" Itachi asked him.

"I told you, either you should have killed him, or you should have thought of something else, I know the options were limited, but your mistake only shows that as human beings we are all flawed" Jiraiya answered. "Your way meant Sasuke became emotionally detached, and yes, he is without friends, he doesn't have a Shisui like you did, Itachi, he has no one keeping him sane. Is that what you want?" Jiraiya asked him.

That is when it dawned upon Itachi, he had been a mindless ANBU killer himself, but he always had Shisui keeping him sane, talking to him and taking care of him, Sasuke had no one, had his move really made him so hell bent on revenge that he had time for nothing else?

"What do I do?" Itachi asked Jiraiya, who smiled.

"Why, I think I have something you can do"

-x-

"So that's what happened" Itachi finished, Sasuke realized that he had been shown the entire thing in the Tsukiyomi, he watched amazed as he heard about the Uchiha revolt and learning that Madara Uchiha was still alive. He was even more amazed when he found out that Itachi was still working for the village.

It was another five minutes before Sasuke was able to speak again.

"You chose the village over our family? Why?"

"I don't think you're old enough to understand that Sasuke" Itachi said smiling. His brother was one of the few people that made him smile.

"I understand" Sasuke said. "This village, protecting its people, did it give you the purpose of existing, you lived to protect the village, didn't you, you'd do anything to preserve the purpose of your existence?"

"Interesting, maybe Jiraiya sama was right, pairing you up with Naruto is having positive affects"

"Naruto is a good friend, he's the brother that you never were" Sasuke said to him, he sounded like a hurt child. Itachi nodded.

"I know I never was there, and I know you still hate me, but I'd love to be there for you now" he said to Sasuke.

"How do I know this is not a trap? And how the hell do I trust you?"

"I work with the Hokage, I think you can trust me on this"

"How did you do it Itachi, how did you kill them, mom and dad, how did you do it?" he asked Itachi, who closed his eyes.

"I don't know Sasuke, I don't want to remember"

Sasuke nodded, he probably wouldn't wanna remember doing something that horrible either.

"Were they in it, mom and dad, were they planning the rebellion?"

"Unfortunately, they were in the forefront of the whole thing"

Sasuke nodded again, he was still kind of angry at Itachi, but that was fading away.

"I think I understand, why you did what you did" Sasuke said to him. Itachi looked at him questioningly.

"Unfortunately, being around Naruto so much has given me a strange affection for our village, and I think if I were you, forced to make such a tough decision, I'd have done it too"

Itachi smiled, it looked like Naruto had done more than enough for Sasuke.

"Although I had built up my life around the whole killing my brother thing, I don't have any purpose now" he said to Itachi.

"Maybe you can revive our clan, but you'll have to have loads of sex for that" Itachi said smiling. "And I don't think any one has told you about the birds and the bees yet"

"Actually Naruto showed me some pictures..it was kinda disgusting" Sasuke said to him. Suddenly he realized that his bondings had come off and he was no longer in the Tsukiyomi, he was back in his bed and Itachi was gone.

His eyes moved towards a note that had mysteriously appeared on the bedside table. It was from Itachi,

**Sasuke, there's people that don't know about my allegiance, let's keep it that way. You can tell Naruto, and only him, no one else. Meet me at the compound once you recover, we begin your training then.**

Sasuke smiled. It would take time to accept the truth but at least he'd be well trained.

-x-

"Holy shit, Gaara is crazy" Naruto said to no one in particular. He had just witnessed a horrible battle between Rock Lee and Gaara, and unfortunately for Rock Lee, despite his best efforts, Gaara managed winning, crushing Rock Lee in a sand tomb, injuring him critically. Temari had already progressed by beating Ten Ten, that left Neji as the last remaining member in Team Guy, who also became the only person from his team to qualify because of the bye. He also decided to pour salt on Hinata's wounds by insulting her and branding her as unfit to lead the clan in the future after she had lost to Omoi.

Of course that had led to Naruto going berserk and deciding to challenge Neji, who brushed him off and called him a one trick pony and a fluke. Sakura and Kakashi had to hold Naruto back from doing something drastic.

"I don't know if I want to hate Neji or feel sorry for Lee" Naruto said fuming. He had already promised that Neji would get what's coming to him, he couldn't wait to get started on that.

"Naruto, I understand that you're mad, but remember, don't do anything drastic, after all he is also a member of the leaf village remember?" Kakashi told Naruto in an attempt to quiet him down, that ultimately proved futile.

"And Hinata is not a member of the leaf village, need I remind you that he totally humiliated her Kakashi sensei?" Naruto asked him raising his voice.

"Raising your voice at him won't do anything, you need to speak with your actions" Kakashi said to him.

"I know, and I will, I just hope I get to show him up on the big stage" Naruto said rubbing his palms together.

"Showing off is not going to get you promoted Naruto, thinking with an open mind and thinking towards the goal is, am I clear on that?" Kakashi asked him, a slight menacing tone began showing in his voice.

"I got it sensei, sorry for shouting" Naruto said, regret in his voice.

"Okay, think nothing about it" Kakashi said to him, giving him a thumbs up.

"I need to leave and get some fresh air, you guys mind?" Naruto asked Kakashi and Sakura.

"Don't you wanna know who your opponent is going to be?" Sakura asked Naruto, who shook his head.

"I need to prepare either way, it does not matter, you guys can tell me later, I need to go visit Sasuke" Naruto said. "He looked pretty banged up, I'll check on him"

Kakashi sighed. "Fine, go" he said as Naruto flickered away in a spark of lightening.

"Damn, I need to learn how to do that, looks so cool" Kakashi said in a low voice hoping no one heard him, unfortunately for him everyone did, and began looking at him.

"What?" Kakashi gestured as the rest of the Jounin crowd shook heads.

-x-

"So he appeared huh?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke had just asked him about Itachi and whether they had worked together in the past.

"I don't know anything about his plans by the way. All he told me was that Orochimaru wanted to kidnap you, and so I had to assist in keeping you safe" Naruto said to him. Sasuke sat up in bed.

"I don't need my best friend to look after me, I could have survived" he said hotly.

"Sorry, but as your best friend, its my job looking after you. Plus what kind of Hokage will I make if I can't even save my best friend" Naruto shot back.

Sasuke remained silent for a while.

"I'm weak" he said after about five minutes of saying nothing.

"No, Orochimaru is too strong"

"You got him"

"Only because he underestimated me, and I think I just made myself a dangerous enemy. My bloodline not withstanding, I am seriously under-prepared Sasuke, as are you"

"We need to train then don't we?"

"If it were that simple, I'd do that myself."

"What do you mean?"

"Sasuke, there has to be something that separates a Hokage from an ordinary ninja right?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke nodded.

"They're stronger, yes" Sasuke said.

"That's not necessarily true. Hokage-jiji tells me that the pervy sage is stronger than him, and from what I know about pervy sage, Orochimaru is about as strong as he is, if not more"

"Are you drawing that comparison because of the Legendary Sannin moniker?" Sasuke asked him.

"Wait, how do you know who pervy sage is?" Naruto asked him curious.

"Itachi told me Jiraiya was a hermit who loved whores" Sasuke said, absolutely deadpan.

"Wait, he said that?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke nodded.

"Man, that's cold" Naruto said, sounding impressed.

"So why did Orochimaru want me?" Sasuke asked Naruto. "Do you have any idea?"

"It's your eyes, I think"

"Fuck, your eyes are better than mine"

"Yeah, but he doesn't know that"

"No one knows Naruto. When will you tell them?"

"How does as long as I can hide it sound to you?"

"The council can get behind you, and the villagers can get behind you right?"

"The council will ask me to get behind a dozen women and fuck them, the villagers will grumble because Konoha will become more crowded with the number of kids I'll give birth to"

For some odd reason, Sasuke blushed.

"Haku is very pretty isn't she?" he asked Naruto.

"How am I supposed to answer that question?" Naruto asked Sasuke. Sasuke just stared at him before they both burst into laughter.

"You know, I was dreading being in a team, but now that I'm in it, I think things have changed. With Itachi back, and you guys, I think I've found a new family" Sasuke said, smiling perhaps one of the few times in a long time, genuinely.

"What about a purpose?" Naruto asked him.

"I'll just restore my clan" Sasuke said smirking.

"Fuck. I mean literally, lots of that will be involved"

"I hate to interrupt you guys" a new voice sounded, it came from the doorway.

"Shikamaru, who let you out?" Naruto asked him.

"You think only you get to come and go as you please Naruto?" Shikamaru asked him, his voice was as lazy as it had always been.

"Um. Yes?" Naruto said slowly. Shikamaru sighed.

"Fine" he said sighing again. "The prelims got done, you got Neji by the way, I'm facing Temari, Sakura is facing Karui, and Kankuro gets a bye in the finals. Zaku is facing Gaara" he finished.

"Thanks Shika, so why are you here?"

"To talk to you Naruto, you got some time?"

"Sure" Naruto said. "Let's do this here"

"Sasuke doesn't need to hear what I'm going to say" Shikamaru said, his voice suddenly all the more serious.

"Wait, why, I want to hear it too, tell me" he said sitting up, trying to get out of bed. Naruto held him in place as he stood.

"I knew it, you were holding back weren't you Shika, you would always figure it out before anyone else" Naruto said to him, smiling.

"In case you're wondering, you are nothing like the Nine Tails, I can tell you keep him safe" Shikamaru said to Naruto, who closed his eyes and smiled again.

"I can't tell you how happy I am that you accept me for what I am, but I think Sasuke is having a heart attack, tell him in detail will you?" he asked Naruto.

"Do I have to?" Shikamaru asked in a childish tone. "Its too long, you do it" he said. Naruto looked exasperated. He then proceeded to tell Sasuke about his parents and the attack, leaving out the unknown enemy bit.

Sasuke had a pale look on his face, it was obvious he had heard a lot of secrets, any old man would probably be dead from a heart attack.

"Is this why they treated you like a fucking piece of trash?" Sasuke asked him. "Fuck, you don't deserve this Naruto, no one-"

"Shut up Sasuke, I turned out fine as you can tell" Naruto said smiling.

"But why, you have all the reasons to hate, why do you ignore them?" he asked Naruto.

"Because, just like my hate, my will to protect the village is also something that I can have, I just chose the latter over the former"

Sasuke stayed silent at that, not speaking. He was being forced to do a lot of thinking.

"Okay, well, I love the fact that you guys are having a moment" Shikamaru said, hints of a grin on his face. "I wouldn't even mention it to anyone Naruto, and won't bring it up when you're alone. To me you're still the same guy you always were. Okay?" Shikamaru asked Naruto.

"Me neither, this is not a problem okay Naruto?" Sasuke asked Naruto.

At that moment, Naruto felt warmer than he ever had. Pervy Sage had told him that in time he would find a place, if not with everyone, then at least with some people. Seeing Shikamaru and Sasuke pledge their allegiance to staying silent about the fox made him feel really happy inside.

"When I become Hokage, you guys are getting promoted" Naruto said, almost choking up.

"Can I stay a normal ninja? I don't wanna be responsible" Shikamaru groaned.

"No, we need your tactical expertise" Naruto fired back.

"I'll head ANBU then, seems like a great thing to do. Plus, Kakashi sensei seems to have hooked me on the idea of a mask. Hey Naruto, you think you can pick one up for me?" Sasuke asked him.

"Sakura can bring it over, I'll tell her"

"Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea, she's gonna thrash me, plus after that stunt in the forest-" Sasuke gupled. Naruto gulped too.

"Okay" Shikamaru butted it. "I am not done yet" he said.

"Next he's gonna tell us that Suna is going to attack Konoha" Sasuke said sarcastically.

Shikamaru, Naruto and Sasuke then looked at each other.

"Actually-" Shikamaru began.

-x-

Temari was in love. She was being silly and she knew it, but Shikamaru had done something to her. They might have been three years apart, but in a way, they were both very, very smart. The time she spent with him left her happier than she had ever felt with anyone, it made her imagine things like her future, and her family, things that she had never ever thought about.

Whatever time she spent with him, she was happy, she forgot about her tyrannical father, she forgot about her psychotic brother, she had begun fantasizing, something that she knew was the last thing that should be happening.

But it was.

She was going to do it, she was going to desert. It seemed silly, but she had no choice, she was going to leave, maybe Konoha could take her in.

Temari gulped again. That was not going to happen, Shikamaru was going to hate her, she knew that he was lazy, but he loved his family and cared for his team and had precious people here, just the though of him hating her scared her.

She berated herself, like it or not, she loved her brothers, they were her precious people, and fucking them over was not a solution. She'd have to do something else, that could keep everyone safe, that could nip this in the bud.

She needed to sabotage.

-x-

"So we are doing this, this is so exciting" Naruto giggled, sounding really excited.

"Oh come on, you're putting too much thought into this" Shikamaru sighed.

"Personally, I think its cool" Sasuke said smiling. "We can be detectives, swoop in and save the day, who knows, it might mean promotions"

"I thought we have to take the exams to be promoted" Naruto said to Sasuke who shook his head.

"My father said field promotions are not that uncommon, apparently our Hokage himself was promoted to Hokage during a mission" he said.

"Yeah, I heard of that too" Shikamaru said nodding.

"Cool" Naruto squealed. "We can be the Detective Boys, I'm Conan" he said, as if being Conan was akin to calling shotgun.

"I find that series too convoluted. Real life isn't that convoluted" Shikamaru said.

"You take that back" Naruto began hotly, before being stopped by Sasuke.

"Listen" he said getting up, wincing in pain, sitting right back.

"Oh who the fuck am I kidding, like this I can't even take a piss, let alone be a fucking detective" Sasuke grumbled.

Shikamaru had told them about Gaara being used as a weapon, Naruto revealed to Shikamaru that Gaara had the One Tailed Beast in him. Shikamaru figured that Gaara would be made to lose control by someone in the exam, and then unleashed. Naruto and Sasuke were impressed by his impressive deductions.

"We have a month to train for the exam, the last stage is going to be on the big stage, in front of the millions and millions of people. We need time for the Raikage and his convoy, and the Kazekage and his convoy to arrive, so we have time on our hands" Shikamaru said.

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME WE HAD TIME" Naruto shouted. Immediately putting hands around his mouth, he had been too loud.

"Good job Naruto, now the whole hospital thinks we've been attacked" Sasuke said.

"Sorry" Naruto said sheepishly. "So we have a month then huh?"

"Yup, we've got to sabotage this thing, okay, and tell the Hokage, but we'll do that after the sabotage" Shikamaru finished. Footsteps could be heard now, the nurses were coming.

"Okay, we got it" Naruto said. "Wait, there's nurses coming, I'm gonna be in trouble. Okay this bird is gonna fly now" Naruto said as he vanished in a crackle of lightening.

"Is it just me?" Shikamaru began. "Or is that cool?"

"I have _got to _ask him to teach me that" Sasuke said to him. "You better move Shikamaru, nurses are coming. Visitors are not allowed."

"It's okay" Shikamaru said before moving towards a bed that was placed a few feet away from Sasuke's, and promptly closed his eyes and lay down in it.

"What the fuck are you doing Shikamaru?" Sasuke asked him.

"Playing dead, I'm the best at that game" Shikamaru replied.

"I wonder if you'll do that when you and Temari are fucking"

"Sasuke. Jokes don't suit you"

-x-

"How did it go Itachi?" They were in Sandaime's office, and Itachi had just informed him about his meeting with Sasuke.

"Good, putting Naruto and Sasuke together has done wonders, he tries cracking jokes now"

The Sandaime laughed. "I like it Itachi, you're not that bad yourself. I assume he took it well"

"He temporarily trusts me, of course I have to establish our relationship again, which is tough given how I can't really reveal myself"

"Don't worry, I'll figure something out for you"

"Also, I think you should promote Shikamaru Nara. He has figured out Naruto's secret. No need to worry" he said hastily upon looking at the Hokage's alarmed face. "Sasuke and Shikamaru don't see him differently. They've decided to play detectives, and have found something else."

"What is it?"

"The sand is going to attack us, I think Orochimaru and the Kazekage are in this, together"

The Sandaime sighed. He was getting really old.

"What are they going to do about this?" Sandaime asked Itachi. "Naruto and the other two"

"Playing detectives"

The Hokage smiled, and then lit up his pipe, taking a long drag and exhaling.

"You know, this pipe is the reason Asuma is such a smoker" he said laughing.

"I don't understand what you mean by that Hokage-sama" Itachi said.

"I'm an old man Itachi, no one will. Let them play detectives, see how far they go"

"If you don't mind me asking, why is that?"

"Itachi, these three are the cream of the crop, the Rookie 9, they're gonna be big names in their own right. The others are all talented, but these three are going to stand out, and I'm not gonna lie when I say this, but I think I'm gonna groom all three of them, one of them as a future Hokage, another as a Commander, and another as an ANBU chief. What do you think?"

"I think they can achieve those goals easily, Shikamaru might complain though"

The Sandaime laughed again.

"Like father, like son Itachi" he said laughing.

"Indeed"

-x-

* * *

**Lots of talking and talking, well, this was a bit of a breather after the Itachi reveal, I hope I made sense, you know you can always ask me some questions, whatever does not conform to the Cannon, fuck it, its fanfiction.** **Itachi is gonna be involved in Sasuke's training, and as you can tell, Shikamaru is going to be a major character now, so fingers crossed for that one.**

**I'm sorry if making Jiraiya be the one who hired him seemed like a cop out, but that's what I assume his job as a spy on the outside was. There will be more explanations, stay tuned guys. Next chapter comes sometime next month.**

**Read, review, tell me what you like. Your responses keep me going. Reading the reviews was what kept me going through this chapter and not back out. You guys mean everything. Tell me if the fic is funny, I plan on being a humor writer when the time is right, so its best to get some practice.**

**But there is another thing that I want your help for, now that Itachi is not in the Akatsuki, I need an ORIGINAL CHARACTER. And this might not even mean much, but if you guys have ideas, send me a PM ONLY, don't overpower your OC, think of a nice name and a skill set and you'll get a cookie, and I'll give you credit for it. I'm doing this because I wanna write with something I don't make up myself, so if anyone cares, hit me up.**

**Apologies, the chapters will stay shorter, they help me write better. Anyway, this week's song?**

**Thrift Shop by Macklermore, I was stuck on that shit while writing this thing. I'm not mainstream, but I'm kinda confused. He's and indy guy and has a number one? What gives.**

**Later.**


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